


You Can't Change Yesterday

by JakidJita



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Play, Anal Sex, Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Near Death, Nightmares, Oral Sex, Past Abuse, Past Torture, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rape/Non-con Elements, Rimming, Rough Kissing, Rough Oral Sex, Rough Sex, Sexual Violence, Sick Character, Slow Build, Tags May Change, Torture, Vomiting, goku is not as dumb as he is in super, medical procedures explained
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:06:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 9
Words: 41,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24071095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JakidJita/pseuds/JakidJita
Summary: When all you've known is abuse and the kindness of others leaves you scared, it's time to deal with your fears, learn something new and break the cycle.
Relationships: Son Goku/Vegeta (Dragon Ball)
Comments: 23
Kudos: 144





	1. Insomnia

He didn't want to sleep. He really didn't. Sleep was something that was a requirement of one's physical state that everyone needed regardless of how strong or weak they were. It was just something he wished he didn't need.

 _I can't fight this forever._ Vegeta confessed to himself as he lay in the dark, staring at the ceiling, _Perhaps tonight won't be so bad._

He tried not to toss and turn so much out of courtesy for the woman sleeping next to him, but it was hard when his physical body tried fighting something only his mind could battle. It was never this bad before, though. He was used to flashbacks of torture or nightmares filled with past abuse..but this felt like something greater than himself..something he was unable to conquer.

Vegeta never told Bulma just how haunted he was by all the years he served under Frieza, by all the things he had seen and done..what he had endured. As far as she was concerned, it was none of her business. His scars told some stories and she was wise to not question him too much about how he got certain ones or why being in the rejuvenation tank never made them go away. It was something he was unwilling to discuss and he was thankful when she questioned him no further once he had stopped talking.

It was nearing 3 AM and Vegeta had yet to sleep. He pondered whether it was a good idea to start his training at 6 or if it was better to catch what little sleep he would get before late morning. Bulma did like it when he would stay in with her at times. She liked the 'good' years with Vegeta, despite his depression taking its toll on him after Goku died and him stopping training altogther. It meant more time for them to be together, more time for them to fix their relationship and to help the miserable prince move on from his "loss." 

That was years ago though, and Vegeta felt that they had grown apart since he came back to life.

He didn't blame Bulma for being distant after his stunt in becoming majin. It was easy for him to understand her pain of losing him that day when he reappeared at the arena, for he could hear her cries and rhetorical questions as to why he intentionally acted the way he did.

Truth was he loved it. He craved that wickedness that made him who he was from the beginning and he wanted to feel it all the time. For years he had wanted that rush and, to him, it felt amazing to get that detached feeling back where it belonged in his heart. He wanted it all; having no ties pulling him down, fighting for the sheer excitement of battle, witnessing the chaos inflicted by the power he wielded, the blood, the cries of pain, the killing, it was everything that he loved. His body burned with adrenaline when battling Goku during this time, and he had not realized how much he missed his lust for destruction until then. It was the type of lust he thought had died when he settled down with a family that he didn't want.

It took a few months before Bulma came around again, and Vegeta sensed she was frightened of him even after the first night she came back. The remnants of his cruelty and cold demeanor remained in his mind for years, and he didn't care to reassure her that who she saw that day was no more. It would have been a lie anyway and Vegeta knew this. They talked about it only briefly before he shut the conversation down, wanting to drop the whole thing before his temper would flare and his regret would overtake him. The strange thing was that part of him didn't want to have regrets..just wanting to never having to feel that he was sorry. It was a part of him that he wanted to keep alive, for this was the true prince he felt he should be: Unapologetic.

Since this time, his encounters with Bulma had remained distant and Bulma excused it as being because he was too rough for her.

There was no sex anymore and, to Vegeta, that was fine. He was never in the mood since he returned and he knew his time down in Hell was the reason why..and why he felt the way he did now. He never told Bulma or anyone, for they needn't know of how tormented he was while there or how weak he allowed himself to become.

What was the point? Why fight something that couldn't be controlled? It was his punishment for all the wrongs in his life, he knew this and he didn't care. It was just that he didn't think it had effected him this much in this way. His time under Frieza was hell enough, but the memories of his past life paled in comparison to how he was treated when in the underworld.

 _Even in death I couldn't escape him._ Vegeta sat up and rested his head in his hands.

He rubbed his face as if to wipe away the memories plaguing him, and it was then that he realized that he was dripping in sweat. Another nightmare, another night waking up in a cold sweat. Perfect.

Opening his eyes, he looked to his left and stared at the woman he shared a bed with, gazing at her soft features shining from the street lamp outside, her fine hair fanned out on her pillow like blue wings. They were trying, but that spark seemed to fade between them like Vegeta vanished in the light of his sacrifice. Their relationship had become colder. Sure, Bulma was still caring, but there was an obvious break between them that neither could ignore. They slept in the same bed pretending that all was fine when it was anything but, and Vegeta realized the more distant Bulma became, the more he welcomed back the loneliness that was once his friend.

Looking back, Vegeta stared at the massive window opposite of where he sat in bed, watching the rain create shadows upon the floor of their room. Carefully getting up, he walked over to look out.

It was getting colder these days. Winter had come and the weather called for more rainy days than sunny ones. It made no difference to Vegeta; it held no barrings on his training once he started using the gravity chamber Bulma had installed at Capsule Corps a few years ago. He wondered what Goku was doing as a means to train under this terrible weather or if he was training at all.

_You have never had to suffer, Kakarott..._ Vegeta placed his hand on the window, feeling the icy glass under his sweaty palm. He watched the raindrops trial down the window and lightly placed his finger against the wet glass to follow a drop down.

_Like tears..._

That was one thing he never saw Goku do; cry. The third class warrior was like a coin that flipped from one emotion to the other: happy to angry. Vegeta could have cried enough for the both of them in their lifetime with the amount of pain he felt throughout his life. He wished he could be different at times, to be as carefree and positive as his saiyan counterpart. He didn't want to admit that he was jealous of Goku and his blessed life, or the fact that Goku saw the good in others and gave them a chance. Like him.

He was too gentle to be a saiyan, Vegeta realized, how could anyone be so fierce in battle, yet so... _gentle?_

Goku's hands and movements intrigued the prince to the point where he didn't even believe Goku to be real, much less a saiyan. He fought like a sayian with great might and yet had enough control in his muscles to be soft...almost loving. The man could smash entire worlds to pieces in an instant, split a land in two by sheer force when angry enough, and at the same time hold his granddaughter with the upmost care as if touching a butterfly's wings.

 _That bastard..._ Vegeta cursed, his teeth grit, _He was always a step ahead of me when I should have been the better of both of us! It's ruthlessness that makes a saiyan, not compassion!...So why must he be stronger than me with both?_

Looking out at the dark, watery world Vegeta wrapped his arms around himself, finally feeling the chill of the cold air against his sweating body. He could still hear Frieza's laughter at his plight when he was in Hell, loud enough to beat out the light pattering of the rain hitting the window pane. Closing his eyes, he sighed.

His nightmares had become all too real as of late, enough to where he felt life was a dream that he would wake up from and find himself being tortured again in Hell. It scared him, but then again he was used to fear and pain.

_No...that's..not what scares me._

Being ruthless and cold was what got him out of a lot, and he found that those emotions were what he knew most out of anything, hell he lived by them, and those were the only ones he needed.

_Kakarott and your damn heart...You spared your enemies when you should have killed them, especially me. You're too soft and that's what's going to get you killed one day. I'm alive because I survived on coldness..._

Vegeta's skin became clammy as he tighten his arms around himself. Walking back to the bed, he hoped his mind could tap into that vicious killer he was forced to be and destroy what was giving him nightmares. Slowly, he covered himself with a blanket, curling up on his side and closing his eyes, hoping for a better night. He didn't know if he was shivering from his cold sweat or the thought of returning to the place where nightmares lived.

_I won't let him haunt me...I won't._


	2. Fear

"Gokuuu! I made Goten something eat, you want anything before you go?" Chichi called out to her husband, making sure not to cut herself chopping fruit.

Goku came out of his room, tying his sash around his waist and messed with his wristbands. "No, thanks! Breakfast was great and I gotta head over to Bulma's before it gets too late in the day. Vegeta and I have a spar planned."

"Oh, that's right." Chichi shook her head. "Alright, just don't be gone for too long, I'm making your favorite."

"I won't. I'll be back later tonight." He smiled, about to put two fingers to his forehead.

"Wait, Dad! Can I go?!" Goten ran up to him, cupping his hands together while looking up at his father. "I wanna go! Please? Trunks and I can sp-"

"You have to study, Goten!" Chichi screeched, slamming down her knife and looking at the demi-saiyan with a scowl. "We've talked about this, I said your father can go! You have a test this week, remember?"

The little boy's face deflated as his shoulders dropped, staring at the ground in disappointment in knowing he wasn't getting out of his studies. A hand came to rest on his head and he looked up.

Goku smiled down at him, rubbing a head of spikes that looked just like his when he was Goten's age. He scrunched up his forehead slightly in understanding, "You better listen to your mom, Goten. You can come next time, okay?"

Goten's eyes lit up and he cupped his hands together again with a smile, "You promise?"

Goku nodded, resting his hand on his son's head, "I promise."

Stepping back, Goku put his fingers to his head again, trying to concentrate on Vegeta's energy. His smile faltered when the energy he was sensing from the prince was abnormally low.

 _That's strange,_ he thought _Vegeta's power level in his regular state shouldn't be that low. It's never been like that before._

Without thinking too much of it, Goku vanished from his kitchen.

-

Vegeta staggered to the control panel of the gravity chamber and braced himself against it, panting for air that he couldn't catch.

_Damn...it should not be this difficult at this stage!_

At 400 times gravity, he should be moving with ease, but the prince found that his heart was beating as fast as it did when he turned the gravity up by another 200. He had barely broken a sweat and he was already struggling. Once managing to get to the control panel with great effort and pressing some buttons, the gravity shifted back to normal and Vegeta felt his lungs open up just the slightest when it did. With weak legs, he walked over to where he left his towel, grabbing it and wiping his face of nonexistent sweat, closing his eyes and letting the towel cover his face for a few seconds.

_This shouldn't be happening...feels like I'm training under 600 when I haven't even gotten started yet._

The energy shifted and Vegeta looked up to see if he had not turned the chamber off properly only to see Goku an inch from him.

"Kakarott!" He yelled, nearly falling back in shock. He hated it when the idiot did that.

"Hey, Vegeta!" Goku greeted with a smile, "Ready to spar?"

"No! And get out! I don't have time for your shit today!" Vegeta shouted, brushing past Goku.

Goku stepped back a little with a frown, almost losing his footing. "But Vegeta, we planned to spar today, remember?"

Vegeta grabbed his water bottle and sneered at Goku, "I said no such thing! Now get out before I force you out!"

Goku blinked some and put his hands on his hips, looking at Vegeta in a way that the prince would consider weird. "Don't you remember, Vegeta? We always spar on the weekends. It's Sunday."

"I don't care what day it is! I said no!"

Vegeta turned his back on the third class and walked back to the control panel, ready to start his training again. Setting his bottle down, he pressed a few buttons and watched as the machine calculated the gravity he desired. "Leave now unless you want to be crushed by the gravity!"

Vegeta could hear Goku not abide by him by walking closer and he wheeled around to shout abuse at him when he found Goku an inch from him again. He felt his backside hit against the control panel as he tried to back up and his hands came up to hold onto the edge of the machine when he felt his legs shake a little.

"K-Kakarott?"

Goku stood like a statue in front of him, not moving a muscle with the exception of his face which was twisted up with concern as he stared at the other saiyan. Vegeta was about to ask the gentle warrior what it was he was staring at, but his words died in his throat when he saw Goku reach forward and put the back of his hand to his forehead. The prince didn't know if his lack of response to Goku's movement was because of tiredness or shock from the man's close proximity to him. He did know, however, that this was something new, something Kakarott did not do.

"You okay, Vegeta?" Goku asked, his voice full of concern. "You feel warm and you're pale. Your eyes are red, too."

It was at this time that Vegeta snapped out of his stupor and growled, whipping Goku's hand away from him and pushing the other saiyan back by his chest. "I'm fine! And who said you can touch me?!"

Looking slightly shocked and hurt, Goku lowered his hand, staying where he had been pushed back.

"I'm sorry...you just don't look so good, and when I caught your energy to get here, I sensed it was low, too low for your normal state. You sure you're okay?"

"Ugh! You're impossible! If we spar, will you stop asking me shit?!" Vegeta asked, attempting to straighten his stance despite how he felt.

"Are you really up for it? By looking at you, yo-"

"Just shut up and take us somewhere!!" The prince bellowed as he grabbed the front of Goku's gi in a fist.

Goku blinked a few times, perplexed by Vegeta's sudden change from not wanting him around to agreeing to a spar. He definitely looked pale, and from Goku's close observation, he could see that Vegeta had dark circles under his eyes.

_You're worrying me, Vegeta._

Not wanting to anger the prince further, he sighed and teleport-ed them away.  
_

The prince found their sparring match to be more difficult than he had expected. After he was unable to dodge a few punches to the face and a roundhouse kick to the back, Vegeta realized he was tiring more than usual. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew that he was running on low fuel, and he should have told Goku earlier as to why he wanted him to leave in the first place.

Managing to get Goku to miss his target to his face, Vegeta flew back from his sparring partner and dropped to the ground, releasing his super saiyan form once his feet touched dirt. "Kakarott, we...need to stop."

"Huh? Why?" Goku asked, following Vegeta down.

"I've had enough for today." Vegeta fought to stay upright, but his knees were beginning to shake again.

Goku, while looking a bit shocked, dropped his form as well. "But we just got out here. It's only been an hour. You okay?"

Vegeta turned away with a aggravated groan, dragging his hand across his face in frustration. "I'm fine. Just... tired."

For the first time today, Vegeta was being honest. While he hated the fact that his rival was seeing him in such a state, he was too tired to keep up the shtick that he was okay when he clearly wasn't. He knew he couldn't hide it for long once he noticed his moves getting sloppy and his punches lacked the power he thought he put into them.

Goku watched Vegeta as he stood there on shaky limbs, panting heavily like his throat was swollen. He wondered why Vegeta was so tired so soon when they barely started. His concern for his rival turned friend grew as he observed the prince licking his lips that had gone almost blue as he fought to get his breath back.

_I've never seen him look so...ill before, and his energy is surging and dropping too much._

"Vegeta, please tell me what's wrong, and don't say it's nothing because I can tell that you're not okay."

 _Fuck..is it that obvious?_ The lithe saiyan wondered.

Vegeta closed his eyes for a few seconds, trying to center himself before looking at Goku's concerned face. Once he got his heart rate and breathing down, he spoke, his voice coming out somewhat soft like his throat was sore. "I...I'll tell you if we go to the river."

The tall saiyan blinked and cocked his head, perplexed. That seems like an odd place that Vegeta would want to go to. Piccolo's meditation area? "Uh..okay."

Bringing his fingers up, he brought his free hand out for Vegeta to grab. Said prince looked at the offering hand with a look of offensiveness and...curiosity? Goku saw Vegeta's throat bob as he swallowed, wondering if his odd behavior was because of what was effecting him or if it was something Goku had done. Either way, he was beginning to become more worried as he watched the prince's reaction to things that seemed normal.

Vegeta brushed aside what he was feeling and put his hand on Goku's shoulder, refusing to look Goku in the eye when the young saiyan tried reading his face. Closing his eyes again, Vegeta braced for the change in scenery. Within seconds, they were at the river.

Opening his eyes, Vegeta looked around at their new surroundings. "Where did you get the energy from? There's no one here."

He turned to look at Goku who watched the thawing river flow a few feet from them.

"There are some deer grazing in the forest behind us. I locked on to their energy as a whole and it was enough to get us here." Goku explained, taking his orange outer shirt off and walking towards the edge of the semi-frozen river bank.

Vegeta tried locating any animals around them that he could lock on to, but to no avail. With a small sigh he figured it was either because he wasn't feeling well or the life forms around them were too small for him to pick up on.

He heard a relaxing sigh near him and saw Goku sit cross legged near the water, looking to be at peace. His rival looked up at him with a small smile and patted the soft, cold ground beside him, "Come sit, Vegeta."

He hated that smile. He hated how sincere it looked..how genuine Goku sounded with everything. It freaked him out as to how someone so violent in combat could be so...sweet.

 _Sweet? No. That's...not good._ Vegeta said to himself, starting to get nervous.

With heavy feet, Vegeta walked over near the river, making sure there was adequate space between Goku and himself before he dropped to his knees. He tried ignoring the other man watching him by leaning down to cup his hands beneath the icy, running water. Bringing them to his mouth, he relished in the feeling of the crisp, refreshing water quenching his thirst. He didn't understand why his mouth was dry all of the sudden, but he didn't think much of it when he had more pressing matters with this conversation Goku insisted on having.

"So...you going to tell me what's wrong?"

Watching his rival from the corner of his eye, Vegeta saw that Goku was serious; despite the lithe in his voice that would fool anyone into believing he was happy, Vegeta knew better. Goku's eyes told a different story, one that wanted no secrets hidden or anything to be left unsaid. Swallowing the dryness in his throat with another gulp from the stream, Vegeta arranged himself to sit cross-legged and curled his arms around his stomach. He didn't know why he felt so uneasy around the other man or why he felt a push and pull with Goku, but it was hard to ignore.

Taking a deep breath, he started.

"I...haven't slept in nine days." Vegeta confessed, unconsciously rubbing his eyes. He deliberately paused and waited for Goku to flip out by saying that was crazy or question him as to how something like that is possible, however he was grateful that the man stayed calm and silent.

"And I haven't eaten in four. I'm just..running on empty and haven't been at my best." He felt his pride taking a nose dive after revealing this.

"Why haven't you been sleeping, Vegeta?" was Goku's gentle response.

_There's that word I keep associating him with. I've seen his saiyan side...yet he is like this. Almost...caring._

Glancing down at Goku's hands in his lap, Vegeta gulped, thankful his mouth was no longer dry.

"There are...things I remember that I wish to forget. There was a lot that went on during my time in Hell that...still bother me."

Vegeta saw that Goku started to fiddle with the ties on his shoes as if to take them off and he wondered if Goku was always a bit fidgety and he just never noticed it.

"Do you have nightmares about it?" Such a soft voice, it almost made Vegeta shake his head at how caring Goku sounded.

Vegeta tightened his hold around his stomach and balled his fists up. "Yes."

"And that's why you haven't been sleeping? Because you're having nightmares about what happened down there?"

A nod this time as the prince felt his chest tighten. His body, despite it's depleted state, started to react to the other saiyan's responses with light trembling that Vegeta tried to force down by deliberately tensing his muscles for better control.

"Well, but that doesn't explain why you're not eating. You have to eat, Vegeta."

 _I know that, bastard!_ He screamed in his head, _I can't because of the nightmares you dumb fuck!_

"I know," he said softly, just above a whisper.

"So, why aren't you?" Goddamn with the fucking questions! Vegeta knew he would have blown up by now if he wasn't feeling so terribly at the moment, and he hated the fact that Goku took it upon himself to care about such a thing when Vegeta could have done it himself.

 _You shouldn't care,_ he thought, _you can't..._

He growled deep in his throat and got up, dusting himself off and ignoring the look of confusion on the younger saiyan's face. "That's enough questions. We're done for today."

"Wha-You're leaving?" He heard Goku scramble to get up and felt him come near, forcing Vegeta's unease to make a comeback.

"Yes, I'm done ta-" He was cut short when he felt Goku grab his wrist to stop him. Looking down at where he was grabbed and back up, he saw the young man stare at him with great concern, his forehead wrinkled up like he was hurt by Vegeta's wanting to leave.

"Vegeta, you're...I'm worried about you." Goku's voice was still soft, yet it held a tone of panic, as if afraid Vegeta leaving would mean something bad. "This isn't right, you know? How can I help you?"

The more Goku spoke softly with a gentle hold on the prince's wrist, the more Vegeta started to panic. His body started to break out in a sweat and his wide, terrified eyes darted back and forth when looking at Goku.

"L-Let me go, Kakarott." His heart raced and he tried backing away so Goku would let go of his wrist.

"But I want to help," The damn idiot was so fucking insistent, "you look like you're about to pass out. What can I do?"

"Let me go!" Vegeta shouted, his voice straining as if it took more energy to yell than it normally would. He didn't know why he was panicking right now, but he knew he needed to get away.

Looking into Vegeta's eyes, Goku saw a terrorized soul behind them; galling, frightened eyes that stared at him like he had seen a ghost. That petrified face tugged at Goku's heart, and he wanting nothing more than to do whatever he could to stop that fear. Right now, while completely shocked and utterly confused, Goku reluctantly let go of the prince's gloved wrist, lowering his head and dropping his shoulders to speak of how hurt he felt just then..how helpless he felt for not knowing what to do to ease Vegeta's fear. 

Despite noticing the look of sadness, Vegeta backed away while facing Goku. He didn't want this; it was freaking him out too much and he needed to go.

Turning his back to get ready to fly off, he heard Goku softly call to him, "Vegeta."

He closed his eyes and swallowed, attempting to control his unexplained fear. Looking back, he saw Goku staring at the ground, his brows knitted together as if trying to figure out what he had done wrong.

"I'm sorry."

 _No...don't be sorry,_ the scared prince pleaded in his head, feeling a great sense of guilt for having upset his partner by doing this. Gathering his draining energy, Vegeta flew off, leaving the gentle warrior by himself on the river bank. Glancing back at the man as he flew away, Vegeta fought every instinct to go back once he saw Goku look up at him with sad eyes.

_You're too kind for your own good, Kakarott..you can't help it...and that's what scares me..._


	3. Questions

6 weeks.

That was how long time had passed since Vegeta stormed off from Goku at the river. While Goku wanted to go and try to find him to see if he was alright, he knew Vegeta's habits in wanting to be alone most of the time, so he left it be. However, once it got to the fourth and fifth week of no signs of the prince, Goku started to worry.

Today, he was stopping over at Capsule Corps to speak with Bulma about Vegeta's whereabouts, seeing that he would have told her where he was going if he were to leave somewhere. Touching down at Capsule's entrance, he walked inside, hoping to get some answers.

"Hello, Mr. Son. How can I help you today?" Bulma's secretary greeted.

"Hi, uh...I was wondering if I can speak to Bulma about something. Is she available?"

The cute secretary smiled, "She's in a meeting right now, but she should be done in..." She paused and turned around in her chair to read the time, "about 15 minutes. Do you want to wait for her or should I relay a message for you?"

Goku rubbed the back of his head, "It's okay, I'll wait in the lobby. Thanks."

Heading over to sit down in the waiting area, the saiyan's mind wandered, and by the time he sat down to wait, he felt his concern grow as he realized just how dire this could be if time was essential. Vegeta's appearance last time he saw him was worrisome, as such a state of the man was something Goku had never seen from Vegeta in all the years he had known him.

_He looked so sick..and I could see the sweat around his neck and on his forehead. Even after we stopped sparring for several minutes, he looked like he was sweating even more when he was just sitting there on the bank._

It wasn't the weather. No, it was still chilly most days and the winter months were still in full swing with February just ending a few days ago. While Goku knew that saiyans had a normally higher temperature than humans, it was odd for them to sweat when doing nothing, and to watch Vegeta perspire while simply sitting down had raised some red flags in the young saiyan's mind.

Goku pondered whether Vegeta's 'sickness' was related to their race, as if it were something that effected only saiyans that Goku didn't know about. Could it be an illness that drained a saiyan's energy?

_That could be it, but wouldn't Vegeta recognize that and ask Bulma for help? She knows our body structures and how we work, so maybe he went to her? If she treated him and he recovered, I would have sensed his energy going back to normal, but I don't. I...can't sense him at all. This isn't good..._

"Mr. Son?" The secretary announced, breaking Goku out of his thoughts. Had 15 mintues pass by already? "Bulma Briefs."

His old friend came out with a smile she only held for him and held her arms out. "Goku! What a surprise!"

"Hi Bulma, I-" His greeting was cut off once she threw her arms around his neck and squeezed him into a hug.

"How is everything? The boys okay? How's Chichi?" Letting go, she softened her smile, but her eyes beamed at him as if she had not seen him in ages.

"They're great, but I need to talk to you about something. It's about Vegeta."

Bulma's smile faltered slightly as she stepped back, swinging her arm and mouthing 'come on' as she walked to her lab with Goku following behind her. They entered the company's vast laboratory that was empty of almost everything. Looking around, Goku saw that it was not what it used to be last time he stopped in. It looked more like an abandoned lab room that everyone forgot about, seeing that all what was inside was a desk with a computer, a table and chairs, and a projector sitting in the corner of the room.

"Come on in! Remember the old office? I'm in the middle of moving to a bigger one at the moment, so there's not much in here. Have a seat!"

Rubbing his neck and sighing, Goku sat down at the table like he was tired..tired and worried, and Bulma picked up on this almost immediately.

"You okay, Goku?" 

Staring at the table for a few seconds, Goku collected his thoughts and tried to keep himself calm. Part of him thought this was completely ridiculous to worry so much about Vegeta when this all could be nothing and Vegeta would return in the next few days without fault..but the other part of Goku told him that something was the matter. As much as Vegeta was a loner and went almost 3 months on his own in Bulma's ship at one point, Goku's thoughts still ran wild at what bad must have happened last time they saw each other.

"Is...Is Vegeta here?" He looked up at her standing next to the table looking down at him.

Bulma blinked and cocked her head just slightly with her eyebrows turned down some. "No. It's been some days since I saw him last..probably training his heart out somewhere. Why?"

Goku closed his eyes and shook his head briefly.

"When was the last time you saw him?" He swallowed the lump forming in his throat and tried calming his heart that only beat faster.

Putting a hand on her hip, Bulma looked up at the ceiling as she thought back. "About...2 weeks ago."

"Did he say where he was going?"

Bulma blinked at him, confused as to why Goku was asking her these things; however, she proceeded to answer.  
"He only said that he was going to spar with you as per usual since you guys have your sessions every weekend. Last time was on Sunday two weeks before..said he was going to spar, but he didn't come back."

Goku blinked a few times before raising his hand to his chin, his eyes darting to the side as he tried to think. "So...2 weeks ago, he told you he was going to spar with me." 

Bulma nodded, calm as anything. "That's what he told me as he was leaving...that he was going to go see you, yes."

Goku's blood ran cold at this. Remembering back as to how sick Vegeta looked with his eyes almost bloodshot and recalling the prince saying that he had not eaten in four days, the earth-raised saiyan tried ignoring the chill he got from Bulma's answer.

"I...We.." He leaned forward on the table as he looked at his friend. "Bulma...I haven't seen him in more than a month."

Bulma's eyes widened at this information and, while upset that he had to say this, Goku was glad that his friend was viewing the situation with concern now.

The blue haired woman decided that now was a good time to sit down and really think about this. This was very odd; Vegeta was not the type to lie to her. Throughout their entire marriage, she never got the feeling that he tricked her by lying or told her something that wasn't true. Vegeta was honest, despite what people thought of him; he never sugar-coated anything and was brutally blunt when it came to saying something if he felt like speaking up. Sure, he would say he was fine when he wasn't, but Bulma didn't constitute that as him lying to her. She just figured he was stubborn about how he felt and didn't want to talk about it.

Bulma tapped her fingers against the table. "Is it possible that you forgot about your weekend spars and you didn't show up? You do tend to forget things sometimes, Goku."

Goku was adamant in shaking his head. The second Bulma brought that up, he already knew the answer before she had finished the question. "Never. I always look forward to our spars, there's no way I would forget about that."

No longer tapping the table, Bulma brought her hands to her lap and scoffed. "This feels ridiculous. I'm sure Vegeta is fine."

Her scoff turned to a smile. "You know how he is when he gets in one of his moods. Sometimes he needs to be alone. I've learned throughout the years that there will be days when he leaves and doesn't come back until weeks later."

Goku just stared at her, wondering why she was scoffing and seemingly taking all of this lightly. "It's different this time. He had nothing to do but train when I met up with him. Once we took a break after an hour of sparring, he wanted to leave."

Bulma shrugged, shaking her head. It almost infuriated Goku with how nonchalant she was being about this. "So? Doesn't he always abruptly leave once you guys are done anyway?"

"Not like this," Goku said, his voice dripping with concern. "if he was okay, why did he look at me with fear in his eyes? Why was his energy dropping to almost nothing while sitting there talking to me?"

The realization of the situation seemed to have clicked in Bulma's brain just then as she stared at Goku like she wasn't believing a word he was saying.

Fear? Vegeta being _frightened?_

That wasn't like Vegeta at all. Taking a slow, deep breath, she held her fingers to her lips as she looked off to the side while she began to sense that something was amiss just like Goku was.

"Can you sense him?" She asked, moving her fingers from her mouth to hold her head in her hands.

Goku closed his eyes and shook his head. "I can't. I searched the whole of earth and there's no trace of him. He didn't take your ship again to do some training?"

Bulma shook her head, her face starting to look worried. "There's no reason for him to use it, I don't think. He used to use it for training since it contained pressure inducing features for him to challenge himself with..but since I built his gravity chamber with those same features in the house, he hasn't needed it."

Blowing air out through her mouth, Bulma was scrambling to find an answer for both of them. "I just know he hasn't touched that ship in years..I put it in a capsule and I'm sure I can find it in my desk. It used to be here, but I packed up everything, so it could still be in one of my drawers. He didn't know I saved it, and he would have to ask which capsule it was if he was interested."

Feeling confused and nervous, Goku rested his elbow on the table and almost rubbed his face when he saw a pencil mark on the table. He almost mindlessly tried to rub the mark out but only made it worse.

Bulma went on, "We're probably thinking too much of this, but I understand your concern. Taking the ship would have been the last thing he'd do, and I'm pretty sure he can't breathe in space if that's where he went."

"Only when we're on the edge of the earth's innermost atmosphere is where we can still breathe. But there's nothing out there, and he doesn't seem like the type to go train that way when there's no benefit to it."

Bulma nodded and crossed her arms over her chest. "True."

After some moments of sitting in silence and thinking, Goku spoke up again. "Maybe he's at Beerus' place. Can we ask Whis?"

Thinking for a few seconds, Bulma got up again, this time looking like she was about to head out.  
"Let me go get something really quick." With this, she left the room.

Goku sat back in the chair and crossed his arms, attempting to lean back on just the back legs of the chair while he tipped his head back. He tapped his finger against his arm in thought as he waited, thinking now that maybe coming to Bulma wasn't a great idea. Perhaps he should have kept this whole thing to himself and searched for Vegeta on his own, but that was the thing; he didn't know where to start if he couldn't find Vegeta's energy. It was as though the man never existed.

Hearing footsteps come back, Goku leaned forward to set the chair back on all of its feet and turned his head towards the door. He saw Bulma come in holding what looked to be a round, purple object. She sat down again and switched the device on.

"This is what I call Whis on when I need him. I'm sure you've seen him talk to me through his staff when you were on Beerus' world. Now, I'm wondering if I can get through to him this time."

Sitting back in her chair and clearing her throat, Bulma spoke into the device. "Whis, it's Bulma! I have a quick question for you if you can hear me."

Goku leaned forward on his elbows and looked at the communication device with great curiosity.  
"Oh," he realized, keeping his voice quiet. "that's the thing you lent me a few times for when I wanted to talk to Whis about training."

Bulma nodded with a smile, and her eyes lit up when her called was picked up, Whis' angelic face coming through on the other end.

"Hello, lady Bulma! What can I do for you? Ooh!" Whis slapped a hand to his face, baring wide eyes. "Is it another type of food you wish to share? I swear, the meat on the bone with that sauce last time was to absolutely die for! Er-what were they called, my lord?"

A distant voice of the god of destruction could be heard off screen. "Ribs."

"Ribs, yes. Anyway, ugh! It was deli-"

"I'm glad you guys like them so much, but I'm calling about Vegeta this time." Bulma said, flicking her hair out of her face.

"See, Goku is here with me and we're trying to find Vegeta and have been unsuccessful so far. We're wondering if he went off with you since the last time you were here. Goku says he can't sense Vegeta's energy and seeing that your world is too far away for him to lock on to, we were wondering if Vegeta was with you and he just didn't tell us."

Whis' face shrank inside the round device as he moved his staff back some, his expression one of confusion.

"...No? I most certainly would have noticed if he was here, seeing that the only way to travel from universe to universe is through yours truly. I'm sorry, but he is not here. Is something the matter?"

Goku instantly leaned across the table some more so Whis could see him through the device and Bulma put her hand out so Goku could talk. "Whis! I know this seems odd, but it's true. I can't sense Vegeta's energy at all here on earth. If you're saying he's not with you, then I guess I have to come out and say it."

Both Whis and Bulma blinked at Goku in surprise, not expecting the other saiyan to have more to say.

Taking a breath, Goku ran his hand across his face before exhaling. "If you're saying he's not with you and he couldn't have taken Bulma's ship that she has in a capsule and I can't sense his energy here, then we have an issue."

This time, instead of feeling like slamming his arm down on the table, Goku groaned as he fisted his hands in his hair in frustration. 

"I shouldn't have left him alone! I should have said something that day! Once I saw him, I should have come h-"

"Goku, what are you talking about?" Bulma said louder than she had wished.

"I..."

_Calm..I have to keep calm. This may be more serious than I thought. Dammit! No more games, then._

Breathing in deeply, Goku started.

"Vegeta is not well. When I saw him last, his eyes were red and his energy kept fluctuating when we fought. When we sat at the river he wanted to go to, he would sweat like we just got done with a 6 hour spar when it had only been an hour..and his energy..it was so low almost the entire time. When I got him to tell me what was wrong, he told me that he hasn't been sleeping or eating for days...that he was suffering from nightmares."

Looking from the table to Bulma, Goku pressed on, "Did you know this?"

Bulma, with a very determined face, shook her head. "He barely allowed me to see him. He'd come home and go straight to his chamber and then back out again without a word. The only way I knew he was here was when I heard him walk or slam something..and once I'd go check to see what the noise was about, I'd see him fly off. If I had seen his condition, I would have said something sooner..I would have come to you."

Goku almost smashed his fist against the table, but decided against it as to not scare his friend. He need to stay focused.

"Whis, can you sense Vegeta's energy? Anything? Even if it's the smallest amount?"

The angel looked worried now, and Goku knew that the face Whis was giving him was a serious one since he's never seen Goku act like this before.  
"I can only do so when reaching the same realm as the world where the energy is located, and the energy has to be strong enough to pick up."

Feeling defeated, Goku sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. "So if you can't locate him even if you were here, and I can't sense him at all, how will we find him?"

"Okay, wait, wait, wait..." Bulma waved her hands in front of her, obviously flustered with the whole thing. She rubbed her hands over her face before resting both of them against her cheeks. "You both say that energy needs to be a certain level in order to detect it, right?"

Both angel and saiyan nodded in unison. "And, Goku, you're saying the energy has to be enough for you to sense, but you can't sense him at all when here, right?"

"Right." Goku nodded again. "I mean, he and I relocated after our spar weeks ago when he wanted to go to the river. He asked me how I was able to get there when it looked like no one was around and I told him that I locked onto some animals in the forest behind us as a whole so it would be enough to get there."

Bulma 'hmph' and looked at Whis through the device sitting on the table. "Whis, I'm thinking about your idea when it came to locating energy through a device. Remember that conversation?"

Whis softly smiled, "I certainly do. I believe the conversation was about how you wished to make a device similar to the scouter the saiyans previously used courtesy of King Cold's insistence on using them when invented."

"That's the one! So, with the scouter I got from your brother, I managed to get it to work in English. You didn't know this, Goku, but it broke once it read your power level when you powered up. Luckily the chip was not destroyed and I used it in a device I've been working on lately and found that it can still read."

Goku scratched his head, not really knowing what Bulma was on about just yet. "That's great, but how can that help us locate Vegeta when I can't sense him at all."

"Hold on, let me go get it." Bulma rushed out of the lab and left a very confused saiyan with an angel hooked up to a call device on the table.

Sighing, Goku folded his arms on the table and buried his face in them. This whole thing was so stressful, but he tried not to let all of this get to him. If Bulma wasn't too worried now with Whis on the line and Whis was calm as ever, then Goku needn't worry as much as he was.

"Don't fret, Goku, I'm sure we'll find Vegeta in no time."

Turning his head up, Goku rested his chin on his crossed arms, looking towards the communication device and seeing Whis' small smile. He wanted to return it with one of his own, but had not the heart to.

"You should have seen him, Whis. He was pale as anything and looked like he was struggling to breathe. When I tried calming him with my voice, he just panicked even more. I've never seen him...scared like that."

"I see," Whis said in a calm voice. "I sense your anxiety with this and wonder if this is troubling you more than you let on."

Goku huffed softly, picking up the device to talk to Whis properly. "You got me there. I don't know why this is bugging me so much. I just...When he told me about him having nightmares and that was the reason he wasn't sleeping, I got strangely protective."

Whis laughed softly, a laugh that held no mockery or judgement, but one of understanding while still trying to ease the saiyan's internal plight. "Well, given your nature, it's understandable why you would feel that way."

"It is?"

"Of course. While you are quite protective and have proven to be so with the amount of times you have saved the earth, your go to response when you see the suffering of others is to try and help. With how you and Vegeta are, despite his demeanor, you two have formed a kinship of sorts and your need to protect seems to have grown to involve him as well. You're the last of your kind, in a sense, so it's quite easy to see why you would be protective of him when he's all you have of your original home."

Goku knitted his brows together and thought about this. It did make sense, but why was he being protective of Vegeta of all people?

Yes, he understood there was a kinship, but that didn't explain why Goku would be protective of someone he clearly knew could fight and take care of himself without him around. Vegeta had been doing fine on his own since he was five years old, so there was no need for Goku to feel the way he did about the prince when he knew this.

_I just wanted to help...He looked scared about something even he didn't understand. Am I being overly protective? I've never felt that way before about Vegeta until I saw his eyes..I felt as helpless on the inside as he looked to be on the outside._

Goku decided to voice just an inkling of what he was thinking. "I was never protective like this before."

Whis nodded, "I know you weren't. Then again, you haven't seen Vegeta act 'scared' like that before."

Goku felt his chest release the tension he was holding on to. Talking with Whis and getting some perspective was definitely helping ease the anxiety Whis sensed he was experiencing. Now that his nerves were calming, Goku felt slightly tired and held his head up with his cheek in his hand.

"You're right...I'm just worried."

Again, another nod from the blue skinned angel. "And that's completely understandable under these circumstances."

This time, Goku gave Whis his smile.

It was then that Bulma came briskly walking in with her new invention in hand. "Okay, so I know, Goku, that you've never worn a scouter before or know how to read one, but this is just like it."

She sat down and held the square, phone-like device in both hands. Goku stared at the object with confused eyes as he held Whis up to see as well. "So, how do you read it?"

"When you said you locked on to the animals as a whole in order to teleport, that's all you would need to get somewhere, right? Seeing that you can't sense Vegeta, I thought of this thing and think it could help. This has two features similar to the scouter without actually being one. There are two screens, the one on the top is the what you can see as you travel, and the one on the bottom gives you the numbers of one's power level when the device detects any in the area."

Goku cocked his head as he stared at the strange thing. "So, it's like a scouter and a dragon radar in one?"

"Exactly that." Bulma smiled, quite pleased with her own invention.

"It's quite impressive, I must say, Bulma. I know you have been working on it for some time; I'm glad to see such hard work paying off."

"Aw, you're sweet, Whis. But remember, you came up with the idea."

Whis laughed at this, "You are correct in that sense. I'll happily take some of the credit. Thank you, Bulma."

"But don't you have to have a certain power level for it to work?" Goku asked, still confused.

Bulma took the device Goku was holding and gave him her new toy. She watched in amusement as he pressed buttons and stared at the screen with great curiosity.

"Not at all. This can pick up the smallest energy level that you may not have sensed if too small. It can pick up the highest level without breaking, and the lowest as well. You can pick up a mouse's energy with that thing. The lowest reading should be 0.001."

Goku hummed as he fiddled with the thing, just now grasping as to how to use it. "I doubt Vegeta's energy will be that small."

Bulma shrugged and looked at Whis. "You never know. I'm sure his won't be that small either, but this way you can cover all bases when trying to find him."

Turning it off, Goku put it on the table, staring at it with what seemed to be disappointment. "It couldn't be that low..." He said softly, almost like he was talking to himself. 

"I guess if it picks up anything that starts to fluctuate like Vegeta's was when we were at the river, I'll know it's him."

Bulma nodded and looked at Whis, both smiling at their clever little invention.

"Well, I don't want to hold up the search party, so I will let you both go unless I can be more of assistance." Whis said.

"I don't think so," Bulma answered, looking back at Goku, "any questions?"

Goku shook his head and grabbed the 'reader' again. "No, this...this should be enough. Thank you, both of you."

"My pleasure as always," Whis bowed. "Keep me updated if you happen to find him. Oh, and Goku?"

The gentle saiyan looked up from the reader to Whis' small face inside the communicator. "Yes?"

"Never consider yourself overprotective with Vegeta. Perhaps what you are feeling is what we need in order to find him. Don't lose that feeling, but don't let it overtake you."

Goku nodded, swallowing the lump that was trying to form in his throat again. "I won't. Thanks again. Bye!"

Whis' face fizzed out as the call disconnected and Bulma turned the communicator off. "Well, we better get started!" she said, her voice sounding cheerful.

"Right. I should be off, and thanks!" Goku put the reader in the back of his sash as he got up, about to head out.

"My pleasure. I hope we find him." Bulma led the way out of the laboratory with Goku.

"Oh, and before I forget, you might want to see if he's at the Lookout using the Hyperbolic Time Chamber..just to be sure. If he's not there, then you should use the reader. I just don't want you to run around looking for him when there's no reason to."

"Will do. Thanks for the tip." Goku answered, smiling. He gave his friend a hug and waved at the nice secretary on his way out. Once he exited Capsule Corps and was about to fly off, he realized something...something Whis had said.

Goku never told Whis that he felt he was being overly protective when they were talking. He only questioned that in his mind.

TBC


	4. Pain

Once Goku had left Capsule Corps, he headed up towards the Lookout at Bulma's insistence just to make sure Vegeta wasn't in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. He had not even thought of that and raced up the long pole to his destination with hope in finding the arrogant prince just on the other side of that magic door. Having been greeted by Mr. Popo and Dende, and after explaining the situation without saying too much, Goku was informed that Vegeta had not entered the chamber and both of them had not seen the prince in months. While disappointed, Goku concealed his feelings and thanked them all the same before leaving.

_Damn..Now I know this is serious._

Heading home, Goku pondered whether he should stay home and get some rest before starting his journey or just camp out somewhere. While he thought it would be nice to spend a couple of hours with Chichi and Goten before departing, he decided against it when he knew Chichi would want to talk and Goten would want to spar or play. He wasn't in the mood for any of it. There was so much going on in his head that he honestly didn't know where to start.

What if Vegeta was sicker than he thought? Did Vegeta's fear have something to do with him? Something to do with how he was feeling? Could Goku help? _How_ could he help?

No, he couldn't stay at home and act like everything was okay when things were far from that.

Wanting some peace to think all of this through, he chose to stay out, finding this to be as good a time as any to use one of the capsules Bulma gave him a few months back.

He quickly flew home and grabbed up some supplies before heading back out, telling Chichi he would be gone during the weekend and he didn't know when he would be back. Goku was glad that she didn't fuss about it and seemed to understand that what he needed to do was important to him, whatever it was. He had refused to say.

With a hug good-bye and Goten giving him a fist bump for the road, he took off to the skies.

 _I'm glad Chichi understands,_ Goku thought as he flew, grateful for her willingness to let him go.

Now that he had a job and was bringing in money to keep a roof over her head, Chichi didn't seem to care too much about what Goku did in his spare time. Just stop in from time to time, that was all. He took care of selling his goods at the market before the weather called for another few rainy days and he wasn't too worried about his crops if the rains would water them for him. With working out some loose ends and securing Chichi's livelihood during this last week, Goku turned his attention back to the missing prince.

Touching down on a vast field a few miles from his home, Goku dropped his bag of supplies and rifled through its contents for a specific small case. Once finding it, he opened it to see the familiar numbers and colors of capsules that laid inside. Taking one out, he pressed the top and threw it to the ground, watching a plume of smoke explode into the chilly air before the wind carried the smoke off to reveal a cozy-looking capsule house. Grabbing his bag and stepping inside the makeshift home, Goku found it to be just as cozy yet spacious as he remembered the first time he had seen the inside of one as a kid. He honed in on the fridge and softly smiled at its size as well as the food pantry that was big enough for him to step a few feet inside with the array of choices given. It wasn't like the Hyperbolic Time Chamber where there was abundance of food, or like the Capsule ship where food seemed to be limited; it seemed like there was a balance where he could go a few weeks and not worry about running low on things. He figured he could always hunt or fish if food got scarce.

The door nearly slammed behind him as the winds started to pick up again, and Goku walked the rest of the way inside before dropping his bag on the floor. He leaned over to look out the window in the kitchen and saw the clouds turn to an ominous dark blue and the trees blowing to and fro against the harsh weather. He could smell the rain coming, hear the thunder booming in the distance, and his worry as the day faded away increased the longer he stared out into the growing darkness.

 _Don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight knowing he could be out there in this._ He thought as he looked up at the brooding sky. He stared out for several seconds before straightening up and walking to the fridge for a drink.

He wasn't hungry in the least. This whole thing had his stomach tied up in knots, just knowing that Vegeta could be somewhere out there having to brave the cold in the condition Goku had seen him in last time they were together. Rubbing his face as he closed the fridge door, he twisted the top of his water bottle and leaned against the back of the counter while still looking out, his elbows resting on its edges. He heard the light pattering of rain start to hit against the roof and windows and watched as drops of water stuck to the windows as the wind rattled them. It was only going to get worse as the night drew on and Goku doubted he would get any sleep with the storm and the amount of anxiety that continued to fester inside of his chest.

_This anxiety Whis was talking about is wearing me out..feel like I could go to sleep right now, but at the same time..I'm too upset to feel like I can calm down._

The more his search came up empty, the more his thoughts played with the idea of the worst happening to Vegeta. They wandered, his thoughts, to the darkest depths of his mind to make up scenarios that fueled his anxiety even more. Thoughts where he found Vegeta starved to skin and bones and fighting against the icy cold winds that blew through the city, some where he was bleeding with his bones crushed, one where Vegeta may have been too weak when drinking water from a stream and passing out where he would then drown or freeze to death. It scared Goku; for the first time in a very long while, he was genuinely scared, frightened that Vegeta might be dead and that was the reason he couldn't sense his energy anymore.

Goku's breath caught in his throat at the moment, forcing a gasp out of him. He set his drink down and splayed his arms wide across the counter to catch himself, his hands gripping the edges as he leaned back on the cold marble top with his head tipped back to look at the ceiling. His skin broke out into a light sweat and his scalp started to feel prickly, causing him to rub the back of his spikes in comfort. 

_I can't think like that..._ His grip on the edge of the counter tightened and he nearly cracked the marble. _He's still alive...he has to be._

Putting his drink back in the fridge, Goku headed upstairs for bed, knowing that it was still very early but not caring too much. He needed all the sleep he could get if he wanted an early start to his search for Vegeta. Taking his shirt and shoes off, he undressed in the dark as flashes of lightening lit up the bedroom for a split second. Throwing himself on the plush bed with a groan, he curled up in the crisp sheets, sighing as he heard the rain get heavier and a crash of thunder boom around the house. Chichi had been worried about him going out when the forecast called for heavy rain and a thunder storm during the night, but he reassured her that he would be alright. It was Vegeta he felt would be the most to worry about. The thought of there being a downpour and the saiyan possibly trying to sleep as the rain drenched him upset Goku a good deal, enough to where his anxiety clutched itself around his throat that left him slightly gasping for breath.

His mind drifted again as he listened to the wind shaking the house and he wondered why he cared so much about the other man or why he was panicking whenever he thought of Vegeta being hurt in any way.

Many times, throughout the day, he felt he was too involved in this, feeling it should have been Bulma that was to be worried the most, yet she wasn't, at least not to him. She was all smiles about her invention when she and Whis didn't even know if it could work on finding Vegeta, as if they had already found him and were celebrating the success of the device. Goku was glad that he could control his anger incredibly well, otherwise he would have exploded in a fit of rage at his friend's nonchalant attitude about the situation. This was her husband they were talking about...well, ex-husband, Goku didn't know anymore, but the facts didn't change that how she acted was unlike a person's usual response to someone going missing...someone they were supposed to care for. It surprised Goku just how upset he was while it seemed that Bulma was not grasping the severity of the situation, as if nothing was the matter to her. It infuriated him, her aloofness.

He wanted to grab her by her shoulders and shake her, saying, 'How could you be so calm when Vegeta could be dead?! He could die from being sick or freeze to death out there and we won't be able to bring him back with the dragon balls!'

 _Perhaps I'm too invested,_ Goku thought, remembering what Whis had told him regarding his constant need to protect. _But why was Bulma not as concerned as I was? Even when I laid everything out for her?_

Goku thought it was strange that Bulma, while upset, still managed to be upbeat while there was a possibility that Vegeta could be dead or on the verge of dying. His mind screamed at the thought of such, his heart racing...aching inside his chest to think that his prince was suffering somewhere and barely anyone cared. He knew he cared..but wondered if he cared too much for this to be normal.

 _No, it's...not like that._ Goku closed his eyes and buried the side of his face further against his pillow, _He...I just didn't like seeing him suffer like that. With those nightmares, no one should have to go through that. I wanted to protect him any way I could, that's all._

The gentle saiyan realized his need to protect others didn't necessarily mean that they needed to be helpless or weaker than him in order for him to care. He cared about everyone and he felt it was his duty to keep everyone safe, regardless of who they were. Vegeta fit that category and, to Goku, he saw the prince as another one he needed to protect, even if they did share that sort of kinship Whis was talking about. Their connection in race didn't seem to make Goku think of him differently, at least not too much, but he did hold Vegeta to a higher spot in his mind that made him one of the most important people in Goku's life...someone special to him and him alone. Someone just as strong. Nothing about Vegeta told of weakness. He carried himself like a prince full of pride, he spoke with an air of authority, was absolutely ruthless in battle, and refused the very word 'weakness.' So, the word didn't apply to him at all, yet Goku felt there was a sort of weakness within him that he was fighting against, a part of vulnerability that was eating away at that protective shield Vegeta had wrapped himself in. Once Goku saw the look of terror on Vegeta's face that day at the river, after it was revealed that nightmares plagued his mind at night, Goku's instincts instantly took over and his mind yelled at him to do something..anything to help.

He was not lying when he told Whis that he had never felt that way before, and even now as he laid in bed, he had come up with no answers as to why this bothered him so much..why he cared about Vegeta the way he did when he had not previously. Yes, kinship, but it felt as though there was more to their relationship than that. Goku guessed it was the friendship, mostly on his part, that made him act like this, but this protectiveness that ruled his mind these past few days suggested that there was more to it that he was ignoring.

_He's...my friend. That's what friends do, they take care of each other. I wouldn't do this if I didn't care about him._

Another thunderous boom hit the house and Goku flinched in his protective ball, his anxiety spiking again as his mind conjured up another dreadful scenario of Vegeta huddled in the same position as he was, his body shivering and his head burning with fever. His mind panicked more as he thought of his short comings with this, the realization sinking in about just how long he waited before he said anything to Bulma and how he still couldn't sense an ounce of Vegeta's energy. Fear overtook him with each passing minute, and the guilt he felt for staying silent still continued to eat away at him. Vegeta could have been dead for 2 weeks at this point and Goku felt most ashamed that he let this go on for as long as he did because he wanted to give Vegeta some space.

Goku clutched his head and groaned again, trying to calm down. _I shouldn't have let him leave. I should have taken him to Bulma right then and there...I didn't and it's because of me that he might be dead.._

He curled up tighter in the sheets, not wanting to give it another thought.

_Tomorrow...I'll find him tomorrow._

It wasn't long before Goku's anxiety died down again and he drifted off to sleep.

_

"There's no reason to hide, Vegeta." Said a familiar voice, "You can't hide here."

Sweat clinged to the prince's form like glue as he tried to catch his breath, his panting coming out shakily and his bottom lip quivering as his fear crept up on him. His eyes were as wide as saucers, his pupils shrinking down and forcing him to see through tunnel vision. His whole body was exhausted from this game, and his aching throat felt like he just swallowed shards of glass that his stomach had refused. It roiled, his stomach, and felt like he was going to throw up while he hid in the thick of spikes surrounding him. Vegeta was never one to admit when he was scared, even if he clearly was, but when he felt it, he refused to allow any of it to consume him. He knew once he allowed his fear to take control he would not be able to escape or fight back. It was the same fear that he felt with Buu once the pink monster had him against the rock wall about to erase his existence with one shot of his enormous energy ball. This, however, was a new fear and an old one. He had felt this way before in his nightmares where he knew he would have to face the creature tormenting him, yet this new fear sank its talons into his heart to make him realize that he couldn't run forever..that he would be caught sooner or later.

He could hear the feet of what he considered to be demonic walk the the marble-like grounds of Hell in search of him, smelling his fear, smiling at his struggle to keep hidden inside the massive pile of spiked balls this thing threw him in.

"I can see you, little prince." It hissed at him from the shadows.

Vegeta turned and ran as fast his tattered feet could take him, his heart pounding in his chest like it was going to explode, and the blood in his ears banged away in his head that barely drowned out the laughter coming from all directions. He didn't care if he looked like a coward right now, he was scared shitless at the prospect of what would happen again if he allowed himself to be caught. The scared prince maneuvered through the mazes of long spikes, feeling smaller spike balls surrounding him slice into his flesh as he ran. No matter how many times as he had done this before, or how much he had memorized the pathways, he still felt lost when he ran as his surroundings kept changing; objects becoming sharper, the air becoming colder and harder to breathe.

Nothing was as cold as those hands on him...touching him...abusing him. They were like ice; his body surrounded by pure coldness as if he was being slowly frozen from his toes to his head. It hurt, this amount of cold, it was like being drowned in ice water, his whole body screaming in pain at the shocking feeling of pins and needles stabbing every nerve in his system.

There was very little room to run and Vegeta knew he was damned by getting lost in the forest of spike balls. Every way he tried escaping, he heard that cackling voice grow closer, the breath of this monster tickling his ear. He thought for a split second that he had found a ray of light only to see that face zoom in on him..grinning at him to give him a scare and to thwart any ounce of hope of him feeling like he was finally free. There was no freedom here, that's why it was Hell, and the prince, despite his tryings in fleeing from this torment, knew his tormentor would come for him in the end. This was their playground after all.

Phantom arms would grab at him as he tried flying, grasping his leg and slamming him ruthlessly to the marble ground of the spike pit. Other times, he was snatched up and thrown towards one of the spikes, this demon more than likely wanting to see if Vegeta was able to be impaled on them even though he was already dead. The worst were the times when such demon would morph their face while they held him down just to frighten him..all the while shredding his clothes and abusing his body, laughing at his attempts to fight back and smirking at his screams of pain. This time, Vegeta had run out of energy to flee while trying to find a way out of this mess. It felt like Hell was squeezing his lungs of all their air, macerating his ribs to pieces so he may never be able to breathe again..like the whole place had come alive and delighted in making his torture all the more fun for the one hunting him. Powering up was not an option, Vegeta knew this as he felt his body become heavier and heavier, his legs feeling like they were being crushed by leg irons that were pulling him to the broken ground, like demons clamoring onto his ankles and dragging him further down into Hell to join them.

His lungs burned like fire when he tried catching his breath. It was no wonder that his throat was as raw as it was with the amount of screaming he had done through all of this. He was shocked that he still had a voice.

"I...can't do this anymore.." He said, his throat choking him up as he bit back a sob. "It's just too much! I-I'd rather be nothing..a-a speck of ash in the wind than suffer through this..."

"Aww, what's the matter? Are you about to cry?" The sophisticated voice mocked, "I thought we were having fun. Don't tell me you're tired of playing already."

The voice chilled his spine like ice, and Vegeta made one last ditch effort to escape this hunt before he felt that his bones would collapse. Swallowing back the tears, the tormented prince shot straight up and flew through the hundreds of spikes surrounding him. A glimmer of hope burst inside his heart when he saw the smallest ray of light at the very peak of spikes a few meters above him. His face scrunched up in pain, his eyes filling up with un-shed tears stared at that light like it was his savoir, allowing him freedom at last. Raising his hand and gathering what little energy he had left, he formed a ki ball, ready to blast the spikes apart and let the light free when a hand thrust itself from that light and wrapped itself around his throat. He shouted and gasped as the hand took hold of him, his own hands flying up towards his throat to pry the punishing hand off him before it crushed his windpipe in half. Vegeta weakly screamed again, twisting his neck all around to try and loosen the hand's tight grip on it. After scrambling and struggling and having nothing left to give, Vegeta focused on trying to breathe back the tiniest bit of air being squeezed out of him. He had no air to scream anymore, and his vision was starting to blur as things started to turn dark. The hand around his neck let up enough to ease this feeling of being light-headed and it only took a split second before lifting him up higher and slamming him miles down to the ground..just like last time.

Vegeta let out an agonizing, blood-curdling scream once his body hit marble, his whole being having been broken and out of energy to allow him to move much at all. Pain exploded inside of his head like his brain had been ripped out of his skull and his legs felt like they were both broken, if not shattered to pieces upon impact. Vegeta could not cry or register the shock of pain the rest of his body was feeling anymore before he abruptly sat up and vomited a massive wave of blood upon his person and the ground. It was like a one man massacre. A pool of blood spread all around him as he shook and vomited some more, his body becoming racked with violent body tremors as he shakily wiped his mouth and, through watery eyes, looked at his hand in horror at the amount of blood staining it. Another wave of blood came flying out, drenching his mouth, chin, and stomach in red before he collapsed on the ground where he had been thrown. Trying desperately to catch his breath and calm his heart thundering in his chest, the poor prince closed his tearing eyes as he fought off the massive panic attack consuming his being.

"My poor little prince. Look at the mess you've made." The same demonic voice mocked, Vegeta's wet eyes shooting open with all the fright in the world behind them.

The figure looming over him snickered before snatching up the tattered remains of his blood soaked clothes and shedding them from his body, leaving him with nothing. The prince was on the verge of hyperventilating, and rivers of hot tears spilled down his sweating face as he realized that he had been caught this time. His air supply was cut off again when a hand clutched his throat tight, its owner laughing at those wide, scared eyes looking up at him.

"Too bad. But that doesn't mean that play time has to be over, now does it? I'd say we have just begun."

Vegeta screamed all the air out of his lungs in pure terror. Then, everything went black.


	5. Hope

This morning started at around 4 for Goku when he had enough of lying in bed while his anxiety fed off of all the horrific scenarios his mind was making up. With getting probably two hours of actual rest, he was a little sluggish this morning, but not tired enough to go back to sleep when he knew that more nightmares of his prince were waiting for him. Initially, he thought it was the rain pounding against the windows and the wind rattling the house that kept him up, but when his nausea bubbled up in his stomach from remembering last night's nightmare of Vegeta lying under a rubble of boulders, dead and rotting away to nothing, he knew then that it had been the latter that caused his insomnia. Drinking his tea this morning, he tried calming his stomach while his mind was still running a million miles an hour. He felt like he was in another world of sorts; one where he dealt with uncaring people who turned a blind eye to those who needed help, where he was the only person that was trying to save an already dead race while everyone else walked away. It was as though everyone had forgotten that Goku and Vegeta were the only two full blooded saiyans left in this universe and that number could fall to just one in a matter of days.

Goku growled in the back of his throat at such a thought, to think that someone he cared for who was royalty was being forgotten like he never mattered in the first place; it made his blood boil.

Taking another gulp of tea, Goku tried forcing down the now lukewarm drink as his stomach protested, reminding himself that he should be grateful for it and put this up as something precious, something that Vegeta had not had in days or anything to eat for that matter. Food and sleep were what changed for him, and since it was because Vegeta had neither of them, Goku tried harder to remember this when food looked unappetizing and when it was hard to fall asleep, it was easier for him to have both when his prince was refused either. That was the whole reason for going to bed early, so he could be well rested for today, but his thoughts instantly went back to hearing Vegeta say that he had not slept in over a week, how he was suffering from insomnia and Goku himself losing sleep partially because of that thought. It also didn't help that his anxiety was taking a toll on him in almost every way because of these thoughts, but he couldn't help but worry nearly all the time since Vegeta had disappeared.

Again, another sip, another painful swallow.

He didn't want to make another connection with how he felt with Vegeta, but a part of him wanted to believe that he was starting to understand that what Vegeta was going through on a much bigger scale was what he was going through right now. The more he thought about how his eating and sleeping habits had changed, the weirder it got for him.

_Was this what Vegeta was feeling all the time?_

Sure, it felt like there was a connection between them, or so Goku thought, however, it wasn't exactly the same. Goku was suffering from nightmares because of his worry, not because of any sort of torment or trauma like the other saiyan was dealing with, and while he acknowledged that his lack of appetite was also due to worry, he did very much doubt Vegeta's own issue with eating had to do with anything else other than his inner plight.

He forced another gulp of tea as he looked out the kitchen window, seeing the wet aftermath of the storm start to shine in the morning light. What a beautiful day to think about the possibility of someone being dead. Goku shook his head as he closed his eyes, curling his free arm around his stomach in comfort as such an idea of his friend dying scrambled inside his brain. Even if he did find Vegeta, Goku had a feeling that he wouldn't know what to do if such a miracle was possible. The longer he stood there looking out, the longer the list of grim scenarios etched themselves into his thoughts, and after so many 'what ifs' coming up, Goku, while broken-hearted, began to understand that maybe helping Vegeta was out of his control. Nonetheless, he needed to try for Vegeta's sake..it just felt like an insurmountable feat to him, to think he could actually help his fellow saiyan when what seemed to be going on was more about Vegeta's emotional state rather than physical.

 _Demons._ Goku mentally tapped on the word, swallowing another mouthful.

How could he help him when there was no foe to fight?

There was no enemy he could see, nothing that he could protect Vegeta from. The enemy was in Vegeta's head it seemed, something he had been dealing with for quite awhile that refused to leave him alone. This brought Goku back to their conversation at the river when Vegeta briefly talked about his nightmares and how haunted he seemed to be by them. Vegeta didn't get into detail about what it was, but Goku had a hunch that whatever it was that bothered him must have been something quite terrifying in order for Vegeta to act the way he did.

Those eyes...Those frightened, galling eyes of the prince entered his mind whenever he tried drifting off to sleep, the picture of a once fearless warrior broken into...this person he had never seen before were being plastered all over the walls of his mind so he could never forget it. That was another thing that was more than likely keeping him awake; aside from the numerous events his mind was making up and thinking of Vegeta's insomnia, he couldn't forget that face that told him that Vegeta was both frightened of what was happening and also desperately imploring for Goku's help. It haunted him, that face; the sickly red color painted over Vegeta's eye lids, his lips white as anything, his sweating skin blanch as if his worst nightmare standing right in front of him was draining the blood from his body. Vegeta was not one to be scared of anyone or anything, really. For him to look at Goku the way he did was something completely out of character for him, and it shocked Goku to see Vegeta look so... _helpless._ The young saiyan got the feeling that how Vegeta felt had to do with him on a personal level since it seemed that Vegeta's fear really started to show itself once Goku came near him. It didn't feel like Vegeta was running from something that would haunt him once he left the river, it felt as though it was Goku himself who was scaring him.

But, why? All Goku did was gently hold Vegeta's wrist and softly asked how he can help. Surely such an act of kindness was not what frightened him, was it? Goku did not know.

Seeing Vegeta look back at him as he flew away replayed in his mind almost constantly when he wasn't making up more dreaded death stories. Those eyes never left him alone, filled with so much pain and fear, how could Goku forget?

He saw a conflicted prince battling within himself, fighting against his mind that told him that he was afraid and he needed to get away while his heart desperately wished to stay. Vegeta looked like he was about to cry the way he stared at him, his soul consumed with regret at what he was doing to both of them, yet his feet still carried him away. The man tugged at Goku's heart, asking for help while it seemed he was being pulled away from him by fear. Vegeta's eyes betrayed him; as he looked back while flying away, they told Goku what Vegeta could not...that he wanted nothing more than to turn around and come back to the one person who seemed to care.

_How I wish you would have come back to me, Vegeta..._

Setting his cup down on the table behind him, Goku looked out at the sun coming up and wondered what had happened to his prince while he was down in Hell. Whatever was happening to Vegeta, it had to have come from there. He wasn't like this when they sparred or fought or even with Bulma when she was being sweet on him. Goku felt that Vegeta had come back a bit different. While enraged at Goku for leading him on with his new found power with the help of Babidi's magic, Vegeta behaved differently towards his counterpart in other ways. He hated to be touched, became reluctant to have Goku near him, lashed out at him for being soft on him, and practically screaming for Goku to abide by his order and stay away from him.

_He acts like he's been hurt..even after all these years, he's behaved as though he expects pain all the time._

The thought of anyone hurting Vegeta made Goku ball his fists up while still hugging his midsection. He didn't know why he felt so strongly about the other saiyan when he hadn't previously, at least he didn't think he did. His feelings seemed to have changed once Vegeta begged him, with tears in his eyes, to kill Frieza; his hand reaching out to Goku as though reaching for his heart so he would understand. Goku did understand then that there was more to Vegeta than what he allowed others to see; he felt pain, sadness, regret, and at times gratitude, yet rage was his go-to response to almost everything. Goku didn't see Vegeta as a cold-blooded killer after it was revealed that Vegeta was under Frieza's rule that was borderline slavery; he saw the prince as a broken man wanting out of the abuse he had suffered for who knows how long and having enough of all of it. At the moment of picking up the dead prince, Goku realized that Vegeta wasn't someone who was born to be that vicious, he was a victim forced into being cold-hearted through abuse and threats. Goku could still recall the weight of Vegeta lying in his arms that day as he looked at Vegeta's tear streaked face, still remember how devastated he was that his prince was gone and that he couldn't save him in time. He hoped he didn't have to relive that again this time if he managed to find Vegeta.

Goku's anxiety spiked up again and he closed his eyes to calm himself, reaching up and rubbing them with his thumb and pointer finger.

_What is wrong with me? Any time I think about him...hurting or suffering I...panic..._

Grabbing his empty cup, Goku walked over and put it in the sink, then over to his bag of supplies and fished out the reader Bulma gave him. Turning it on, he saw it blink to life as it scanned the area for life forms.

"If they're not fluctuating like Vegeta's, then it's probably not him." Goku reminded himself, picking up his bag and heading outside to give the reader a better chance at finding his prince.  
_

_Breathe....breathe..._

_Heartbeat..._

_...Heart..._

_........beat._

_....Breathe..._

_  
 _4 Hours Later..._

 _Is this thing broken?_ Goku asked himself as he stared at the reader in his hands. _There aren't any of those yellow flickering dots showing up. Maybe I'm searching in the wrong area._

The young warrior searched everywhere, the mountains, the forest, and the city with his eyes glued to the little device that he was still confused as to how to work. He thought it must be the scouter part that was hanging him up since he's never used one before, but he figured it couldn't be too hard when all it did was detect power levels. The problem was that the thing would spike when he passed over dinosaurs, dropped immediately to a weak level when he waved it around the back of the forest where some deer grazed, and it would give random levels before blinking out of existence.

_This is stupid. None of these are fluctuating._

Goku cut this trip short once he lost his patience with the random levels picking up every time something moved and headed elsewhere. His stomach growled at the right moment once he had enough of searching every place he could think of. Sighing, the saiyan turned during his flight and headed to the river. He was starving and he couldn't keep searching on an empty stomach.

-

Once flying over the river, Goku traveled along the stream that led back to the vast, pool-like area where the stream was dumped into. After a few moments of flying, he halted his travels when he came to the mouth of the river, figuring that he could catch something if the water was deep enough. Dropping to the shore, Goku placed the reader on a rock while he removed his clothes to go fish.

Fishing was one of his favorite past times as a kid, and that never stopped once he became a father. Some of his happiest memories were fishing with Gohan and teaching the boy some of his tricks when he wanted a good catch. Goku thought it was when Chichi was at her happiest, too. She made no fuss when he wanted to go out and have fun with Gohan and she seemed pleased when they would come back with a giant fish for her to cook. She didn't say much, but she would comment on how lovely it was that Goku wanted to spend time with his son all the while bringing home food that would provide for all of them.  
Goku wished those good times would stay, but since Gohan had gotten married and Chichi had Goten buried in school books, there was little fun to be had. He didn't mind too much, though. While it was fun while it lasted, he still had things to do to keep him occupied when he wasn't trying to save the world.

Vegeta was a great distraction, one of Goku's favorites actually, and he loved the times they spent together sparring, sometimes talking, and sharing what each got Whis and Beerus whenever they got the chance to train on their world with the bribery of food. While Vegeta remained pensive at times or stewed in a bad mood, Goku never felt like Vegeta hated being around him. He'd catch little smirks from the prince when they sparred or when they ate together, and it strangely warmed Goku's heart to see the other saiyan happy. The verbal jabs and name calling were always ignored, as Goku just thought that was how Vegeta was with everyone, so he didn't really take it to heart when Vegeta spoke to him like that. Since the prince's disappearance, Goku found himself actually missing those snarky comments, that gruff voice saying his birth name, that fire that fueled Vegeta's desire to get stronger.

 _That's probably why I'm more determined than the others to find him._ He concurred. _I miss him...I miss who he was before all of this._

Stepping into the water, Goku shivered slightly from the river's frigid temperature chilling his nude body before swimming further out. Holding his breath, he dove under, swimming a little bit deeper down to find a good fish fit for a saiyan meal. It didn't take long before he sprang up with a huge catch that he quickly cut the head off and flew back to shore.

"Never doing that again. Whoo, that's cold!"

Powering up to super saiyan, he dried himself quickly and shot a ball of ki onto a small pile of sticks a few feet away from him, igniting a fire. Sectioning the fish out in parts, he took another stick and stuck each part onto it before throwing it into the fire. While waiting for his food to cook, he got dressed, and as he tied his sash to his waist, he glanced down at the reader sitting on the rock and sighed.

 _That damn thing,_ He mentally called it, _Seems like a good device, but it needs work. If I hadn't remembered how Vegeta's energy was surging and dropping, I'm sure I would have been lost in what to do. This reader shows everything and nothing at the same time._

Sitting down, Goku turned the stick of fish over to cook the other side and grabbed up the reader. It confused him, this thing. It was hard to read anything with it when the life forms would blink on the screen with the reader calculating a number of energy and then vanishing in the blink of an eye. Goku stared at it, resting his head in one hand.

"You have to be around here somewhere, Vegeta...where else could you have gone while being that sick in this weather?"

Winter was still blowing through and it seemed it was not going to let up until a few more weeks had passed. Even when there was no snow to be seen, the waters would break the top layer of ice frozen over it, and the grass had a light dusting of frost covering any patch wherever Goku went. The temperatures weren't terrible by his standards, but they were cold enough that his skin felt the bite of cold wind whenever he was out and about. Goku still felt hot and cold like everyone else, but they didn't seem to effect as him as much, and he blamed this on his higher than average body temperature that he had become accustom to since he could remember. As he thought back to Vegeta, he became worried again as he thought of Vegeta's energy surging, believing that the same could be said for his internal temperature as well. He hoped he was wrong and Vegeta was fairing fine just like he was.

I hope he's been okay during this last storm..wherever he is...

Once his fish had cooked through, Goku took the entire stick off the fire and blew on the nearly charred meat. He bit into the sections of fish like a kabob and just chewed, not really tasting any of it and not caring. As long as it fed his stomach, it didn't matter.  
Looking at the fire with almost dead eyes, Goku put the reader down again and put his free hand out to feel the warmth of the flames. Strangely, he didn't stare at the fire and see heat or think of how it warmed his cold hands. His mind always went back to Vegeta, seeing the face of the prince and that undeniable flame of hair he possessed burn inside the fire.

_Whatever I do, I can't stop thinking about him..._

Swallowing down another massive piece of fish, Goku took the rest of the fish off the stick and shoved all of it in his mouth, throwing the stick into the fire in almost an angry fashion.

 _Bulma should be doing this..._ He internally growled, _He is her husband..or person or whatever. She should have rallied up a search party for him with all our friends..and yet it's just me. Why do I feel like I'm the only one who cares?_

Goku had thought that all of his friends had forgiven Vegeta for his wrong doings once the prince had settled down with a family and became one of the Z fighters. They seemed to take to him okay, even talked to Vegeta at times to break the ice, but where were they now?

No one came to him to ask where Vegeta was or seemed to care if he was around or not. Perhaps their attempts in being cordial were for Goku's sake and not because they genuinely wanted to be and while Goku appreciated the effort, he wondered if it was just to keep in his good graces as a friend rather than a desire to care about the prince. None of them had reason to care, he supposed. Vegeta wasn't the most warming person to become friends with, so maybe they gave up trying when they didn't see much benefit in forming a friendship with him.

_Regardless of how they feel, shouldn't they at least try to help? At least for my sake? Feels like Vegeta could fall off the face of the earth and they would all celebrate it._

Sighing, Goku got up and put out the fire with his shoes, scattering the ashes. He stood where there was once fire and looked out at the water, his brow scrunching up in what appeared to be hurt. That was it; he was hurt to know that his other friends still disliked Vegeta even though he had not hurt any of them in more than a decade. Their grudge against his prince seemed to overtake any sense they had in finding forgiveness..or they had seen Vegeta's growth and refused to accept it for pride's sake. Goku felt that he could vouch for Vegeta until he was blue in the face with his tongue about to fall off and it still wouldn't convince any of them that Vegeta wasn't that person anymore.  
He wasn't that animal that killed for the sheer pleasure of murdering someone or the one who nearly crushed Goku to death in his hands; he wasn't even the psychotic, brainwashed monster that killed thousands of innocent people just to rile up his rival for a fight. That just wasn't him; and even after Vegeta wished back the earth and all its people, it still wasn't enough. None of them saw past Vegeta's mistakes, and Goku was beginning to think that maybe they didn't want to.

 _~"People like him don't change!"~_ Krillin's angry voice echoed in his mind as he thought back to that day when he had to beg for Vegeta's life.

_All they see is that killer they first met in the valley..and the one they fought in the canyon._

Goku shook his head and with his hands on his hips, blowing a puff of air out of his mouth before looking at the reader lying on the ground, the device having turned off on its own from lack of use. Staring at the thing for a few seconds with knitted brows, it came to him. The saiyan's eyes widen and his mouth parted as it hit him like a ton of bricks.

Wasting no more time, he snatched up the reader as well as his bag and flew the fastest his power could take him. His heart raced, his breath panting as all of his adrenaline pumped through his veins at rapid speeds. Everything in him pounded away like horse power and he powered up to his blue form somehow thinking it would make him go faster. His destination was only a few miles from the lake, but to him, it felt like it was worlds away and he could not get there fast enough. Once the trees became sparse and the grass became patchy, Goku knew he was almost to where he needed to be.

_Please...Please be where I think you are..._

Goku looked around and saw that he had reached the canyon in which he and Vegeta first fought as well as the same one where they battled when Vegeta had become Babidi's servant. Stopping his travels when he got to the middle of the canyon, he frantically opened his bag for the reader again and quickly turned it on. He panted with anxiety and hope as he whipped the reader every which way, his eyes plastered to any life forms that would come up on the face of it. With a pounding heart, he waited as the device scanned the area, his hands shaking from adrenaline and worry.

The device beeped once it found its target, the radar part of it popping just one yellow dot.

It fluctuated.

Goku's heart leapt to his throat and he audibly gasped.

_Vegeta..._

Rushing to his target with a massive burst of hope, Goku stared at the reader as the dot got bigger and smaller at the same time, the energy calculator spiking and falling to what Bulma said was the lowest level to detect: 000.1

Goku stopped and floated above a massive rubble of boulders that had been split and crushed in a pile. Slightly confused, his eyes darted from looking at the pile of rocks to the reader in a frantic pace, watching as the dot flickered again. This time, it didn't seem to move like Goku was..it had stopped moving altogether. The energy was inside the rubble.

_Just like in one of my nightmares..._

No longer feeling like he needed the reader, Goku threw the device in his bag and flew down to the rubble, wasting no time picking up gigantic boulders and throwing smaller ones any which way. His breathing had become erratic, frantic pants escaping him the more he dug with great urgency.

"Please..." He pleaded out loud, his voice sounding desperate and lost.

He worked as fast as possible, as quick as his muscles would work and it paid off when he saw part of a white glove. On the verge of hyperventilating, Goku moved nearly a quarter of the rocks away when he found hair...the raven hair of his prince. While finding his hope, he was also losing his patience, and Goku thrust both of his arms inside and fished for a body part or a part of clothing to grab onto. He gained a bit of purchase with the latter and holding his breath, he yanked up...and there was his prince, pulled from the wreckage and into his arms.

"Oh my g-Vegeta!" He shouted, bringing the broken prince to his chest. "Oh my god!"

Vegeta, lifeless as anything, lay completely limp, his entire body covered in dirt with cuts, bruises, and dried blood littering almost every surface of skin Goku could see. His muscles had shrunk and nearly his entire rib cage had become noticeable underneath his shredded suit, his flesh split open, his wounds caked in dirt.

"Vegeta!" Goku cried, his trembling arms trying desperately to awaken the prince lying against his chest, but to no avail.

He felt his eyes fill with tears as he stared at the broken body of his friend; his closed eyes..his colorless lips and slightly grey skin. _You can't be dead..._

Frantic as anything, Goku ripped open his bag for the senzu beans he collected just in case this were to happen, and took one out. He pried Vegeta's mouth open and chewed the bean himself before leaning down and closing his lips over the cold ones of his prince, attempting to feed the magical medicine to him. Goku leaned back and, still panting in sheer panic, closed Vegeta's mouth, his other hand grabbing at his throat and under his jaw to force Vegeta to swallow the crushed up bean.

Nothing happened. No swallowing, no prince brought back to life, nothing. Looking inside Vegeta's mouth, Goku saw that Vegeta had not swallowed it.

_He can't do it. He..._

Goku tried again with a new bean, this time thrusting his tongue inside to shove the bean to the back of Vegeta's throat, still massaging his throat to make him swallow. No good. Vegeta couldn't swallow anything. Taking the bean back out and throwing it somewhere, Goku's fingers flew to Vegeta's neck where he gently pressed, looking for a pulse. The several agonizing seconds Goku kneeled there with closed eyes was torture as his mind started to accept that Vegeta was actually dead. He didn't know if he was doing it wrong or if he was pushing on the wrong spot, but his heart dropped when his search came up empty.

_...Heart.._

Goku quickly gathered Vegeta into his arms and lifted him up so his chest was to Goku's ear. Closing his eyes again and trying so hard to control his erratic breathing, Goku concentrated on hearing the heart of his prince, hoping to feel that beating in his ear.

Blessed God...

A very faint and slow beat tapped against his ear. Vegeta was still alive.

Goku brought Vegeta to his chest as he bowed his head, selfishly holding him for several seconds while tears fell down his relieved face. His relief didn't last long though as he realized that Vegeta was barely breathing. He could just slightly feel the air being breathed out through Vegeta's mouth, but it was hardly there. Vegeta was about to stop breathing altogether. Lifting his head, Goku saw that his tears had trailed down Vegeta's face as if they were his own and he wiped them from a bloody, bruised cheek. Gently cradling Vegeta in his arms, he stood up, watching the bleeding head of his prince hang off over the crook of his elbow, his mouth parted by white lips.

Swallowing his tears, Goku took a deep breath and brought his fingers to his forehead.

-

"That is absolutely delicious!" The blue angel of Universe 7 squealed, his taste buds going off like firecrackers with the bursts of flavor.

"Glad you like it, Whis. It's actually an old family recipe." Bulma smiled, taking a sip of her drink.

"Like it?! I love it! The combination of flavors is so unique! You get that crunch from the outside coating on the meat and it's so juicy on the inside! And this sauce to go with it just makes the whole dish sing! What's this called again?"

"Fried chicken with thousand island dressing." Bulma answered with a satisfied smile.

"Thousand island? A thousand islands making this sauce? Ugh! What a dream!" Whis took another bite and swooned.

"Looks like the puke those slug monsters barfed up from when we went to Planet Nada." Beerus piped up, closing his eyes and ignoring the infant child tugging on his metal collar.

"My Lord, please! Such distasteful descriptions during meal time. Reframe from any more nauseating details until we finish our food."

Trunks covered his mouth to keep from laughing.

The god of destruction yawned with his eyes closed, wagging his tail. "Whatever you say, Whis."

Bulma stretched her arms up with a smile and leaned back in her chair, looking over at her little daughter settle in on Beerus' lap, seemingly joining him in an afternoon nap. Seeing her first born look at her, she winked at him as Trunks tipped the straw in his drink to his mouth.

Swallowing, Trunks cleared his throat quietly. "Hey, uh..Mr. Whis, sir?"

"Yes?" The angel said with a smile, his eyes closed as he took another bite of sauce-dipped chicken.

"The place that my dad always goes to, Beerus' place? Is it okay if I come too?"

Opening his eyes, Whis looked at Trunks with a small smile and hummed. "You wish to become strong like Vegeta, I assume?"

"Yeah!" the young boy exclaimed, sitting up a little more with his hands balled up. "Can I train on your world and learn new moves?"

Bulma smiled and shook her head, _He's just like his father._

Chewing another piece of chicken and swallowing, Whis looked up at the half breed with a calm face. "I wouldn't mind having another student added to my class, but unfortunately you are still too young to pick up the regimes I set in place for your father and Goku when I train them. Hone in on your skills and find your strengths, and once you are old enough, I will happily teach you how to refine those skills."

"Oh." Trunks sat back, disappointment written all over his face. He took his drink in his hand and stared at the table of food as he sipped. "Thought I could do it now."

"Now Trunks, you still have to get through school," Bulma said, crossing her legs. "Maybe when you're older and school is out, you can go."

Trunks softly groaned with his straw in his mouth, "But that's so f..."

Setting his drink down, Trunks looked around with wide eyes as he felt the air shift around him, standing up and pushing his seat back.

"What is it, Tru-"

The table cloth flew up at the edges as a small gust of air shot their way, and the energy on the balcony changed with the new life force joining those on it.  
Looking to her right, Bulma saw an orange glitch appear before forming into an entire being..a hunched over person on their knees a few feet from where she sat.

"G...Goku?" She blinked, bewildered.

The mess of spikes on top of one's head raised up to reveal the earth-raised saiyan's distressed face, his eyes red and misty from crying. Clutched gently in his arms was Vegeta, drained of all color and seemingly lifeless.

"Bulma..." Goku croaked as he looked up at her with imploring eyes, scared and consumed by hopelessness. "Please help..."


	6. Sickness

Goku's heart pounded as he paced back and forth in the hallway of Capsule Corps, his feet shuffling up and down as he waited for Bulma to come out with some news. Once Bulma saw what grave condition Vegeta was in, she instantly led the way to one of the spare bedrooms, Goku running behind her with the unconscious prince in his arms. Bulma paged her father for assistance as she pointed towards the bed for Goku to lay Vegeta on, and as much as Goku wanted to stay, he was denied this once Bulma told him that he needed to stay out of the way as she and Dr. Briefs worked. Before he left, he saw Bulma pick up a phone from a desk, calling for a woman he couldn't catch the name of and asking them to report to the south wing. Goku looked back at Vegeta lying in that bed, completely limp and pale, before he reluctantly left, leaving Bulma to do her work.  
That was nearly two hours ago, and Goku had yet to cease his anxiety-induced pacing as he waited. 

Whis watched him as he moved, standing in the corner, emotionless while looking at his saiyan student walk in a line, Goku biting his thumbnail from one hand while clutching the sleeve of his shirt in the other. He had never seen Goku worked up with this much worry before, and as much as he wanted to reassure Goku, he didn't want to speak in case small talk would somehow make the other man panic more. So instead he leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes, gently holding his staff near him.  
Goku bit his nail to the quick, chewing on the end of his thumb as he tried calming his mind while he paced, but those damn scenarios didn't let up once he found Vegeta, if anything, they grew to a new form. He thought of Vegeta dying by suffocation, his blood becoming poisoned by any possible infection in his wounds, his lungs no longer working, his throat closing up, an underlying alien sickness ravaging his insides that Bulma and her father couldn't manage to control, everything! It wasn't enough that he found Vegeta and the prince was in good hands; no, Goku needed to see a full recovery in order to calm down. Vegeta wasn't out of the woods until they managed to save him in time..or by the looks of it, managed to somehow force him to breathe...

Stopping his obsessive walking, Goku stood there with his thumb resting against his lips.

"Whis?" He spoke up in what felt like forever.

Whis opened his eyes to look at Goku standing in front of him. "Yes, Goku?"

"Do you think Vegeta will make it?" Goku grazed his teeth against his thumb. "I mean, do you think they can save him?"

Looking at Goku with a neutral face, Whis raised his hand and motioned for Goku to follow him so they were not talking right outside of the door. Stepping into an alcove of sorts, they talked privately.

"I do believe Vegeta will pull through just fine." Whis said, calmly. "He is a strong individual and I have no doubt that his strength, physical or otherwise, was what helped him survive this long in the condition he is in. As long as Bulma's nurse takes care of him, I'm sure he will recover in no time."

Reeling his head back some, Goku blinked, "Nurse? But Bulma's not a doctor, why would she need a nurse?"

"You didn't notice?" Whis said. "It was the girl who rushed past you two hours ago. She's a nurse caring for Bulma's mother from what I understand. I didn't want to pry in on why, but if they are in charge of caring for someone in the Briefs family, they may be competent to care for our prince as well."

Rubbing the back of his head, Goku felt confused, but grateful all the same seeing that what Vegeta needed was dire medical help. Leaning against the wall next to Whis, he scrunched up both of the sleeves of his blue shirt with his hands crossed over his chest. He stared at the ground in great worry. "What do you think is wrong with him?"

More silence..several seconds of it that made Goku look to his right at Whis, thinking that the angel did not hear him. Whis stared off into nothing, his eyes telling Goku that perhaps he didn't know himself. "Unfortunately, I am unable to say, but I'm sure Bulma will have an answer for your shortly."

Uncrossing his arms, Goku groaned as he roughly rubbed his eyes with the ends of his palms. He didn't want to wait any longer, and he felt his patience was starting to run a bit thin as the seconds ticked by. Sniffing and tilting his head up, he assumed his previous position with crossed arms.

_I hate that he couldn't swallow that senzu bean. I'm sure if he was able to, his injuries would have been healed and we wouldn't have to wait this long. He just needed to breathe, right? So what's taking so long?_

He brought his head forward, breathing in air through his mouth as if he had been holding his breath.

"Is it possible for you to heal him? I mean, with your staff and stuff? I thought about taking Vegeta to Dende for healing until I remembered that he's off on New Namek. If I knew he was around, I would have IT'd to him."

Whis cocked his head and looked up at the ceiling, softly humming while he thought of Goku's proposal. "I suppose I can, but if there is an underlying issue with Vegeta, let's say sickness, then I cannot heal that. Physical injuries such as cuts, bruises, and at times decapitation of limbs can be healed. The induction of labor is also a trick I know, as you've seen, however, healing internal issues like viruses are not possible."

Goku's face contorted with anger, his nose twitching with a snarl wanting to form. "So you can't heal sick people.. just injuries."

"I'm afraid so. Sickness is a natural occurrence and my powers do have limitations as to what they can do."

Clicking his mouth some, Goku stared at the opposite wall. This was like de ja vu for him. He was just at Capsule Corps the other day and now he was back, only this time with the goal he set out to accomplish actually happening. He had to remind himself of this and not panic, thinking he was back to square one when that wasn't the case. Talking with Bulma, talking with Whis, being given the reader, it felt like it was happening again, but he knew better. Thinking back to that day now, it hit him then that he had dismissed something Whis had told him before his journey began...something that he needed to talk about. After a few minutes of neither of them talking, Goku pushed himself off the wall and stood in front of Whis.

"Last time I was here, you said something about how I felt about Vegeta."

The angel opened his eyes and raised his head up. "I'm sorry?"

With still crossed arms, Goku lowered his head to rest his chin on his broad chest, his eyes fixed on Whis. "When Bulma had you on call and it was just you and me talking, you said something about how I felt..that I should never consider myself overprotective of him."

Whis blinked a few times, clearly confused to what Goku was getting at with this. "...Yes, I..do recall saying that."

Goku raised his chin a bit and scowled some, "Why did you tell me that? All I said was that I was never protective like this before."

"Ahh.." Whis smiled then and nodded, catching on to what the actual topic was. He quietly cleared his throat. "I see...Do you recall in that same conversation about me saying that I can sense your anxiety? That you felt more than what you were exhibiting and you telling me that I...what was the phrase..? Oh! That I...'got you there' or something along those lines?"

Goku's mouth became dry all of the sudden and he licked his dry lips before attempting to swallow the lump in his throat. Seemingly rendered temporarily speechless, he nodded.

"I can sense emotions on a deep level. While I'm not psychic in the least, goodness no, I do have the ability to read emotions and when an individual starts to feel that emotion, as well as when they cover it. Just like you were feeling anxiety, I can sense that and when you are hiding it. You also felt you were being overprotective-"

"I told you I was just worried." Goku said, starting to freak out at the thought of Whis knowing his feelings. "It wasn't like I was feeling overprotective in that moment." 

"On the contrary, you were feeling overprotective." Whis countered. "You didn't have to say anything for me to know that. You may not have felt you were being that way, but you indeed were and I picked up on it..which is why I mentioned it. Also, I believe it was quite obvious the way you were speaking as well." 

Whis rested his staff against the wall. "Your concern was a big indicator to this. While reading your emotions, I sensed that your anxiety was brought on by a need to protect Vegeta, and when diving a little deeper, it was indicated to me that your fear for what could have happened to him was mixed with a feeling of over-protection. Now that I see how you feel at the moment since you have arrived back, I sense this feeling you have for Vegeta and your kinship goes even further, so to speak."

Goku cocked his head and stared at Whis, wearily. "What do you mean?"

Sighing, Whis grabbed up his staff again. "What I mean is that I feel you'r-"

The door busted open at that moment, causing Goku to rush back to the room. Dr. Briefs, with a shocked expression on his face, was being pushed out of the room by his daughter.

"Out! Out right now!" Bulma yelled as she pushed.

"Dear, it's nothing. I'm wearing a mask and gl-"

"I don't care! Out! Disinfect yourself before you see Mom and the kids! And tell Trunks to stay far away from here! Don't go see Mom until you've washed, got it?!" Watching her father walk down the hall, Bulma 'hmphed' before turning to the two bewildered men standing in the hallway. Sighing, she took off her gloves and pulled down the mask covering her face.

"Bulma, what's going on? How's Vegeta?" Goku could feel himself start to pant with worry.

The blue haired woman closed the bedroom door behind her and put her hands on her hips, breathing deeply. Slowly exhaling, she looked at Goku.

"Whis, can I talk to Goku alone for right now, please? I'll catch you up on what's going on later."

Whis bowed his head with an understanding smile. "I most certainly can. I do need to get Lord Beerus back to his world now anyway. If our prince happens to wake up, please tell him I wish him a speedy recovery."

"I will, Whis. Thank you." Bulma smiled, and with that Whis walked down the hallway and went out of sight.

Goku focused on Bulma intensely, ignoring the sound of Whis' footsteps as he left and instead looked at his friend as she slid down the wall into a crouch with her arms hanging off her knees, her head tilted back with her eyes closed. Coming over to crouch down next to her, he watched her sigh and dig her hand around in her pocket, producing a bottle of hand sanitizer. Clicking thte cap open, Bulma drizzled some on her hands before rubbing them, stashing away the bottle once her hands were dry. She looked up at Goku with worry and praise, the latter being directed at him for getting Vegeta the help he needed in time.

Swallowing, Goku feared the worst. "Bulma, please tell me it's not...he's not...will he be okay?"

Bulma stood up then and dusted off the back of her lab coat. Seemingly ignoring Goku, Bulma walked back towards the room and peaked inside.

"Kimi?" She softly called to the woman she paged earlier.

Goku could faintly hear a reply.

"When you're done, will you please bring them to my board room? I have to speak to a friend of mine right now. Page me if you have any questions." With this, Bulma closed the door again.

Without words, Goku followed Bulma to her conference room down the hall. Once entering, they sat down at the head of the table. Goku would have been looking all around the broad room with its long rug and elongated table, but he was hyper focused on his friend who held information he desperately wanted.

Bulma took a moment to gather her thoughts, chewing her lip as her eyes moved back and forth. Goku stared at her, not moving a muscle.  
"He's quite sick, Goku." His friend finally revealed, now looking at him. "I'm actually afraid of what would happen if I continue to treat him."

"What's wrong with him?" Goku leaned forward, almost wanting to hold Bulma's hands that were now resting across the table.

His blue-haired friend closed her eyes for a few seconds, her brief silence leaving Goku on the edge of his seat. Opening her eyes again, she lowered her head in all seriousness as she looked at him.

"His immune system has been compromised and he has plural effusion caused by pneumonia."

Goku blinked and cocked his head, the meaning of the words completely flying over his head. Bulma sighed in slight frustration.

"It means that he is sick with lung infection from bacteria. He may have already had a touch of a cold from being immune-compromised and being out in the cold elements probably exacerbated it, causing pneumonia to form; and plural effusion means there is fluid in his lungs caused by the pneumonia."

Goku raised his head, now understanding what this meant. "Fluid in his lungs?" His eyes bulged then. "He's not breathing?!!" He shouted.

"He's breathing now, I assure you!" Bulma said with her hands up. "We did a procedure that made him breathe, okay? He's on an oxygen tank right now being fed air."

"But ho-"

The sound of a door opening caught Goku's attention, Kimi coming in just then. She wore full scrubs, gloves, and a plastic shield protecting her face along with a surgical mask. In her hands were two big jars.

"I tried my best, Mrs. Briefs, but this is what I managed to get out..I hope I did the procedure right..."

Goku saw Bulma quickly pull the mask hanging below her chin back over her nose and mouth as the woman walked towards her. The nurse gently placed the jars, with yellow liquid sloshing inside, on the long table. The nurse quickly stepped back from Bulma as the blue haired woman looked at the jars with a slightly pained expression seen only in her eyes.

"Thank you, now which one was from his right lung?" She asked.

The nurse, while still keeping her distance, pointed to the jar on her left, the one that was most full. "This one, ma'am."

Bulma leaned forward, studying the jars and humming. "As I expected. A full litre?"

The nurse nodded. "From the pre-written measurements on the bottle, yes, it is a full litre, ma'am."

"Hmm...yes, and the other being half...Is he able to breathe on his own now?"

"Yes, ma'am. I looked at his oxygen levels and they seem to be back to normal. It appears that he is having chest pains, but that is to be expected after this procedure."  
Bulma nodded in understanding, "Okay, you can leave these here for now. Thank you so much, Kimi. I know you've never done that before, but I greatly appreciate that you stepped in."

"You're welcome. I'm glad to have helped."

This Kimi girl politely bowed before leaving the two friends with the jars on the table.

Goku looked at the jars with both disgust and curiosity, moving his head from side to side as he looked at the fluid filled jars closely. "So...this was in his lungs? And that's why he almost stopped breathing?"

Bulma nodded before pulling her mask down again, "Yes. He was basically drowning within himself. He shows classic signs of infection right now with a fever and chills. These jars are a result of plural effusion caused by pneumonia."

Goku's breath caught in his throat then, his stomach dropping when thinking of his prince suffering like this. He felt like he was going to be sick looking at those jars and he turned away just then, clutching his stomach.

Bulma took the jars and brought them close to her. Taking out a pen from her pocket, she wrote some initials on the jars before setting them near her feet on the floor, away from Goku's sight. Looking back up, she saw that Goku's face had turned an almost sickly green.

"I'm sorry, Goku." She said sincerely, her forehead scrunched up with hurt. "I know this is hard for you because he's your friend, but this is just the reality of the situation. Think of this as a good thing. If you had not have found him, we wouldn't have been able to get that fluid out. Please, think of it that way."

Still looking off, Goku fought against his anxiety as he rubbed his hands in a comforting way.

"Hey," Bulma softly called, reaching out and taking hold of his hands in one of her own, her other hand gently gripping under his chin, "Hey, look at me."

Swallowing back his nausea, Goku looked at her, both of their eyes meeting in understanding that neither of them liked what was happening right now. 

"It's okay. The fluid is out now and he's able to breathe. What you saw was a good thing, alright? This is the first step towards Vegeta recovering."

Breathing a little easier, Goku took hold of his anxiety and buried it down, and once Bulma saw him relax a bit, she let go of his hands and sat back.

"S-So now that he can breathe, he's going to be better now?" He asked, hopefully.

"I'm hoping, but..." Trailing off, Bulma blew out a puff of air, her face looking drained and stressed by all of this. "It's...It's a long way off."

Blinking in confusion, Goku piped up excitedly, his anxiety fueling his hyper mood now. "What do you mean? He can breathe now, isn't that what this is all for? He just needs rest so he can get better, right?"

"Oh, Goku..." Bulma said softly, irritation evident in her voice as she massaged her eye lids. "It's not that simple...What had to be done with getting this fluid out is a big deal, okay? It's not like Vegeta is going to wake up feeling fine, he won't, okay? His body has just been through a trauma and it's still fighting an infection that can take weeks to get over. He'll have to be on massive pain medication while he heals from the thorancentesis."

Goku pulled back some, "Thor-uh-cen..."

Bulma rubbed her face, "It's the procedure we had to do, it's called thoracentesis, which basically means that we drained Vegeta's lungs through a needle in his lungs."

" _A NEEDLE?!_ " Goku yelled, his face full of fear.

"Would you calm down?!" She yelled back, aggravated, "It was the help him breathe not to hurt him!"

In an instant, Goku's face deflated back to normal, having Bulma almost fall over in disbelief with how sudden he changed. "Oh. Well, why was there fluid in his lungs?"

"This infection creates fluid that builds up in the lungs. We all have these little air sacs that take up oxygen when we breathe. When there is an infection, fluid or pus gets in there and makes it hard to breathe. Once these sacs fill up with fluid, we need to drain the lungs so there's no more infection."

Goku blinked taking this all in, lolling his head to one side, he looked off at part of the ceiling. "Is that right? Huh. Well, you learn something new every day."

Smiling softly, Bulma crossed her legs as she mentally cheered for the normal function of Goku's brain. Her smile faltered slightly as she moved on, "But that's not everything.

Bringing his head back down to look at her, Goku hummed slightly in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Bulma licked her lips as she veered towards the bad side of all of this, internally not wanting to give Goku this news, but as a friend, she needed to.

"I did say that I'm afraid of what would happen if I continued to treat him, and because of this, I cannot treat him any longer."

"What?! Why?!" Goku exclaimed louder than was necessary.

"Didn't you see how I forced my dad out of the room? Pneumonia is extremely contagious and it can be deadly for someone my dad's age. Now, if I get it, I can pass it on to my parents or my kids or my staff and I don't want that to happen."

"But you have a nurse to help you! Surely you don't have to be exposed to it, so why can't she care for him?"

Bulma shook her head adamantly, "No, this is...Goku, that's not what's happening here. Kimi is a rehabilitation nurse for my mother. My mother had a fall almost a week ago that rendered her bed-ridden. I mean, my parents are at the point where they do fall, and since she's elderly, it takes a while for her to recover. Kimi's job is to assist her and help her recover. Asking her to do this is not okay, but since Vegeta was basically drowning, I needed her help. I can't force her to perform duties not in her resume and caring for Vegeta would be one of them."

Feeling trapped with very limited options, Goku started to get nervous again. "So, he can't go to a hospital or something?"

Bulma shook her head. "We've done what doctors would have anyway, Goku. There's not much they could do now that the hard part is over."

Goku shook his head, feeling extremely helpless at the moment. "How can he get better if you can't treat him?"

His friend bowed her head some as if ashamed and Goku knew that he had figuratively snared her into a corner. It took a few seconds for her to reply and before she even opened her mouth, he figured out why she shot down every option he presented.

_She doesn't love him..._

"I've done what I can, Goku, and I can't do it anymore. He has to fight it on his own now."

The saiyan sat there in great defiance, refusing to accept the fact that he had to walk away from his sick friend. It wasn't right. It was just like he suspected when it came to all of his friends; they didn't care about Vegeta like he did, and now when the prince was sick, he was still being forgotten about.

Goku softened his face, his eyes pleading with his friend to come up with a solution. Even if she didn't want to do it, she could at least try for his sake.

"Isn't there a type of medicine he can have to stop this? I'm running out of options Bulma and I'm like a bundle of nerves right now."

Looking at her distressed friend, Bulma's shoulders hunched as she sighed, her hand going to her forehead like the last time they sat down to talk. Her eyes darted back and forth again as he brain tried coming up with a solution..it wasn't but a few seconds before she straightened up.

"I have an idea." She said softly, staring at the table.

"What?" Goku's heart was about to explode with all this talk that felt like a lost cause.

Bulma rubbed the side of her face in aggravation. "I really hate doing this, but...I can tell my father's doctor that my dad developed pneumonia from the flu and I need some antibiotics...I mean, it seems unethical to make up a sickness for my dad to get medicine, but I've known many doctors who will do it...I'll request the medicine be sent to our pharmacy and I can pick it up today. He obviously doesn't have to know that it's not for my dad."

"Well..." Goku crossed his arms and sat back, the chair creaking from his weight. "That sounds great, but what about a senzu bean? Wouldn't that make Vegeta recover? Since he's breathing okay, why not give him one? I tried to give him one when I found him, but he couldn't swallow it. Maybe he can now?"

Looking at the table, Bulma thought about this. While in essence it would help Vegeta with his physical injuries, it would do nothing for the infection and Bulma wasn't about to have her work skewered by a magical bean when it could do more harm than good.

"I'm afraid we can't do that right now. You see, sometimes with pneumonia, fluid can fill back up in the lungs even after draining them. If Vegeta was given a senzu bean, that would clear up the holes we put in his lungs, therefore healing them. While that sounds great, it's counterproductive with this situation. If his lungs do fill back up, we would have to start the whole process over with sticking yet another needle in his lungs when there is no reason to. I would rather have those holes there in case it happens again rather than force him to go through the whole thing. I mean, I doubt they would fill up that much again, but it's good to leave the option open."

Goku looked off the side in what looked to be defiance and softly growled, clearly not liking the idea of Vegeta not being able to have what could help him. Bulma saw him pout after she said this, and if the situation wasn't so serious, she would have laughed at how he looked.

"I know you don't like it, but trust me, this is for the best." She silently watched her friend stare at the table with folded arms, Goku's face deadly serious with an air of great concern just oozing off his person.

"You said you can't treat him because he's contagious." He started. "Would he be contagious to me, too?"

Blinking at the young man, Bulma tried processing this. Thinking about how Vegeta had a weakened immune system and was now contagious, she knew for her sake and the sake of others, she needed to stay away from him. While she felt bad, she had to draw the line as to how she would treat Vegeta, and this was one she could not cross.

She had been studying the saiyan body for years and had come up with some temporary medicines for Goku and Vegeta whenever they came in with an unknown issue. She would test them with the flu and malaria to see how they faired, and to her surprise, they showed no symptoms or even acted like they were sick. Putting this up as something to do with them being saiyans, Bulma seemed to think that Goku's and Vegeta's immune systems were above average because of their race and assumed that what afflicted humans did not do the same for them.

_Perhaps it's the same when it comes to contagious diseases. It's understandable that Vegeta has this because of his immune system being weak from not eating and sleeping, but I've never seen Goku sick before, at least not from some bacterial virus or contagious disease humans can get. I wonder..._

"I don't think he would be contagious to you. Your saiyan bodies are very strong in every way. I mean, I've known you nearly all my life and I've never even seen you sick with the flu or cold, much less allergies. Perhaps, you are immune to what Vegeta has now that I think about it. I'm sure you could even go in there right now with Vegeta and not be suseptible to catching pneumonia. I, however, can't go in."

Goku stared at the table with wide eyes, his pupils going back and forth as his mind raced with possibilities. After several seconds, it came to him. "What if I take care of him?"

Reeling back some, Bulma looked at her friend like he sprouted three heads out of nowhere. "What?"

"I can take care of him. If I'm not..sus..cep-table..to this thing he has, I can care for him."

Bulma outright scoffed at such an idea to the point where she almost laughed. "Oh, Goku. Honey, you can't. This is not your strong suit by any m-"

"Please, Bulma." Goku grabbed her hands from across the table and held them, staring at his friend with imploring eyes. "I...Please, I want to help him. If you can't go near him and I can, then please let me take care of him. Tell me what to do, give me the supplies and I'll do it."

Retracting her hands from his soft grip, Bulma stared at him with a confused face. "Goku, it's not that simple. Where would he be if not here? How would you do it?"

Goku gave her a reassuring smile. "Remember the case of capsules you gave me months ago? I made a capsule house that I've been staying in for the past two days. I can bring him there and take care of him. You can give me the supplies I need to treat him and it will be just us. He wouldn't infect anyone else, I promise."

Looking off after staring at Goku for a few seconds, Bulma let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She shook her head, "Goku..."

The grip on her hands tightened just a tiny bit. "Please...I'll do anything. For Vegeta's sake, I want to do this. Please, Bulma..."

Turning back to her friend, Bulma saw that he was serious. His eyes, big as anything, pleaded with her to let him help and who was she to deny his help after all he had done for her?

Taking in a shaky breath, she swallowed, nodding. "Okay..."

"Yes!-"

"But if anything goes wrong, you call me right away, got it?!" She scolded, holding her finger up like she was warning a child.

"Absolutely!" Goku exclaimed, a big smile breaking his face open. He got up and came near her, enveloping her in a massive hug. "Thank you, Bulma..thank you, thank you."


	7. Medicine

"When will you be back?" Goku called to Bulma as she walked to her car, watching her jingle the keys in her hand.

"Oh...an hour or so. I'm going to pick up some more supplies for you, but I won't be out for more than two, how's that?" she asked as she got in the vehicle, starting it up.

"Wait!" Goku exclaimed, "Can I see him? Is it okay if I see him now? Please?"

Bulma smiled as she shut the door, rolling down the window and looking at her frantic friend. "You can, just make sure you wear a mask and gloves. Ask Kimi and she will give you some, okay? Back in a flash!"

With this, Bulma sped off down the road, leaving a very worried and confused saiyan at the front entrance of Capsule Corps.

Goku sighed as he watched her go and reached up to rub his spikes as a way of comfort. Turning around to go back inside, the young saiyan crossed his arms as he walked past sliding doors, wondering if he was biting off more than he could chew with deciding to play nurse maid to Vegeta. He didn't know anything about pneumonia or immune systems until Bulma briefly explained these things to him, but he figured it couldn't be too hard seeing that the worst part of Vegeta's sickness was over and he just needed someone there to take care of him while he recovered. That was what Goku wanted most out of this, to be the one to bring the other saiyan back to full health and see him get strong again. He knew his protective instincts were running wild right now with wanting to be with Vegeta and thought that they would be put to good use this time with caring for the prince and keeping him safe while he fought this virus. At least he hoped they would.

 _This is good...This is good, right?_ He asked himself, his thumb rising up to his lips like last time, himself mindlessly biting his nail as he walked. _Vegeta will be safe with me. I know this sickness stuff isn't something I'm familiar with, but I'm sure with Bulma guiding me, I can take care of him the right way._

"Oh! Sorry..." Kimi said as she bumped into him.

Goku's hand flew to the back of his head as he stumbled back, his nervous tick returning, "No, I'm sorry. I should have been paying attention."

"It's okay." Kimi replied, pulling the wheelchair she was moving back a bit. "I hope everything went well with you and Mrs. Briefs."

Goku smiled softly, "Yeah, uh..she left for bit, but she said I can go see Vegeta now..said I should ask you for a mask?"

Now that Kimi's face wasn't covered by a surgical mask and a face shield, Goku could see her nice smile as she spoke. "Of course!"

The young nurse parked the empty wheelchair on the side of the hallway before turning back around and walking in the opposite direction. Goku followed her.

"Sorry about the wheelchair. Mrs. Brief's mother said she wished to have a stroll so she can tend to her garden. I'm glad I wore protective gear while tending to Mr. Vegeta or I would have to delay this garden stroll even more." Kimi nervously laughed.

Goku only half listened as Kimi talked, his mind wandering as did his eyes with looking at the ceiling and the darkened rooms they passed. He wasn't at all interested in what Kimi had to say, really, that is until Vegeta's name came up.

"You really have to wear all that stuff when around him?" He asked just as they stopped in front of a storage room of sorts.

Kimi entered first and practically flew towards what looked to be a very small medical cabinet on the opposite wall from them, her hands opening cupboards and drawers as she searched. "Swear I never get used to where things are." she said to herself. Looking back at Goku, she raised her voice.

"Yeah, he's very contagious right now. I actually had to scrub down everything in his room so the next person who uses it doesn't catch what he has. Pneumonia is no joke, it can be super painful and scary when you can't breathe. I hope he's not in too much pain after that procedure. Might have to give him fentanyl until his lungs heal...wonder if Mrs. Briefs is able to get that for him..hmm."

Finding a mask, Kimi held that in her hand as she searched for something else.

Watching Kimi rummage through the cabinets for supplies, Goku cocked his head. "Fent-en..."

"Fentanyl." Kimi answered, finding some gloves and closing the cabinet. "It's a powerful painkiller that's usually only given to those who are dying or have cancer."

Goku audibly swallowed, his anxiety spiking a little with the thought of Vegeta still possibly dying from this pneumonia he caught. He licked his lips as he tried his hardest to shove down any possible scenarios that wanted to surface.

"But...he's not dying." He said to her, hoping she would reaffirm this.

"That's right, he's not." She answered, allowing the saiyan to breathe easy. "I just wonder if Mrs. Briefs is able to get that type of medicine for him. I know he's strong from what she tells me, but he will still feel a good deal of pain regardless of strength."

Walking over to Goku and handing him a pair of gloves to go with the mask, she watched him take the items and put them on.

Before Goku put on the mask, he spoke while stretching the blue nitrile gloves over his hands. "He's much stronger than I think anyone gives him credit for." He said with pride, his chest swelling at the thought of his prince being so strong and determined...just like he knew he would be.

Smiling, he looped the mask around his ears and let it hang under his chin. "He's the strongest person I know when it comes to survival."

Kimi smiled softly at him as she closed the door behind them, walking back down the hallway to Vegeta's room. "Sounds pretty tough." She commented. "Oh, before I forget and mess this up, I have to make sure that when you're done being with him, you don't touch the door handle."

Goku cocked his head at her.

"I know it's weird, but this is to ensure there is no cross contamination...like, his sickness doesn't spread to anyone else if they touch the door handle as well."

Looking at the door, Goku hummed, "So, I can touch him with gloves but once I want to leave, I can't touch anything."

Kimi nodded, "Right. Just knock with your elbows and I'll open the door when you're ready to come out. I'll be waiting out here for you with a bag and sanitizer."

Going with the program, Goku shrugged his shoulders and put his mask on, watching Kimi as she held the door open for him. Entering the dark room, he walked a few feet inside before hearing the door softly close behind him. His eyes instantly zeroed in on a bed in the corner of the room..a figure laying on it, motionless. His jaw went slack behind the mask and his eyes grew wide at the sight before him.

_Oh, Vegeta..._

Vegeta laid in the flat bed, the blankets scrunched up to his chin and a wet cloth was placed across his forehead. The back of his head laid on an ice pack and Goku could see that the right side, just above Vegeta's nape, had been shaved; a three inch stitch marking his skin, closing up the wound that bled badly when Goku picked him up. On the bed next to him was the oxygen mask previously used to get him to breathe, laying forgotten once Vegeta was able to breathe on his own. 

Goku rubbed his gloved hands while walking closer to the bed, trying to keep his heart from racing. As he approached, he noted Vegeta's still ghostly complexion, looking at his lips that were still faint in color, but noticing that they looked better than how they did when he found Vegeta...remembering them to be drained of all color. Once close enough, Goku watched Vegeta's chest barely move as he breathed and wondered if Bulma and Kimi actually got all the fluid out of Vegeta's lungs...his lungs should be expanding more by now. Vegeta looked like he was still struggling to breathe, and despite being unconscious, Goku could see his brows furrow as if the simple act of breathing was painful.

Feeling slightly panicked, Goku suddenly had the urge to check Vegeta's chest once he felt that Vegeta wasn't taking in enough air. He also wanted to see the damage to Vegeta's lungs and at the same time was too scared to actually make a move to pull the blankets back to have a look. Swallowing his fear, he did it anyway, coming near and gently pulling the blankets away from Vegeta's body. He wished he didn't. 

Both sides of Vegeta's ribs were covered in white, the gauze taped to his skin being discolored from where the drain tubes had been. Patches of yellow fluid still seeped out and the more Goku stared at them, the more frightened he got. The rest of Vegeta's body had small cuts, big cuts that had to be stitched, and bruises in various stages of healing littering his skin.  
The young saiyan's stomach dropped as he saw everything, and he almost violently threw the blanket back over his friend before he controlled himself. Looking back at Vegeta's equally marred face, Goku gently covered him again, taking care to tuck the blankets under Vegeta's chin with light fingers. He was about to pull his hand back until something stopped him, the sudden urge to touch Vegeta taking hold and consuming him just then, and he gave in to it without question. Reaching back out, he gently cupped Vegeta's face in his gloved hand, himself being slightly upset that he couldn't feel Vegeta's skin with his own, but he did feel the heat coming off of Vegeta from his high fever.

Goku stood next to the bed with his waist bent in half, his gi pants touching the blanket with how close he was. He stared down at Vegeta for what felt like several minutes, not knowing what to do...what to think. His mind was having a hard time processing the fact that he was looking at the prince, that Vegeta was here, safe, and actually alive. From all the weeks that went by and the amount of fear that brewed in his gut up until this point, it was a shock for Goku to see that Vegeta was still here with him.

 _I don't know what I would have done if you left me, Vegeta._ He thought, _And I don't think you would ever understand how scared I was for you...if you died this way, I...couldn't bring you back..._

His breath hitched at the thought and he extended his other hand and brought it gently to Vegeta's other cheek, cupping the prince's face in his hands as if to cradle it. Vegeta did not move and part of Goku was glad that he was unconscious, that he didn't feel Goku touch him, and Goku felt that he wouldn't be brave enough to do this if he knew Vegeta could awaken at any moment. Watching the man sleep, he brushed his thumb across Vegeta's cheek tenderly. Now that he wasn't running on adrenaline, he could take the time to touch...to caress the one he had been searching for...the one he missed the most. Resting his right hand against Vegeta's cut cheek, Goku trailed his other hand up and buried it in his prince's raven hair, wishing to feel the soft but thick locks of the man before him.

 _Oh, how I've missed you..._ Goku's eyes welled up as he looked at Vegeta's face. _I thought I'd never see you again, Vegeta...not until it was my time to go, and even then, I may never..._

Oddly overcome by emotion, Goku tried to reel his feelings back while holding the sick prince. His emotions battled against each other, one fighting to show anger for himself for not speaking up sooner about Vegeta's disappearance and the other coming close to breaking the surface with tears of relief. The war was subdued, however, as Goku swallowed down both so he could not feel them. All he wanted right now was to never leave, to be the first thing Vegeta saw when he woke up...but he knew he must leave only for a little while.  
As he pulled back his hands from Vegeta's face with great reluctance, he had to remind himself that he and Vegeta would be together, that at the end of the day, Vegeta would be with him. Stepping back now, Goku took one last look at the unconscious prince before turning around and walking towards the door. Remembering what Kimi instructed, he gently knocked with his elbow, relieved that his natural strength didn't make the door crack apart. Just like Kimi said, she gently opened the door and let Goku exit. Nothing was said between the two as Goku pulled his gloves off inside of the medical waste bag Kimi provided, nor when he disposed of his mask. It wasn't until the saiyan was rubbing the sanitizer into his hands that he spoke up.

"Bulma should be back soon." He said with a dead voice, refusing to look at the young lady. "I'll be waiting in her board room. Thank you for letting me see him."

Before Kimi could say anything, Goku quickly walked back down to Bulma's board room.

-

As Goku sat in Bulma's board room, he stared at the long table, lost in all of his feelings and thoughts. He didn't know if he was still in shock from seeing Vegeta in such a state or scared, but he did know that looking at his friend lie there left him feeling...weird. This whole thing was entirely new to Goku and he felt like his mind wanted to race with what was happening and shut down at the same time. Part of him felt his time with Vegeta in the room didn't happen, that it was something he imagined and the other part was freaking out at the fact that Vegeta was suffering the way he was. His stomach flipped when he thought back to looking at those damn jars filled with fluid and his skin broke out into another sweat.  
Goku thought that his reaction to all of this was his fear rearing its ugly head up again, his helplessness turning to fear because he knew he couldn't help Vegeta the way he wanted. He understood that Bulma wanted Vegeta's lungs to heal naturally in case she needed to go back in and drain them again, but it was aggravating to him that there were so many options to stop Vegeta's suffering and she was shooting them all down.

_I get the feeling that she's doing this for my sake because he's my friend. She doesn't love him like...I...don't think she cares. I know she didn't want me to do this, but what were we supposed to do? Let Vegeta just suffer because she didn't want to get him help? Maybe she's mad at him for something and wants to get back at him. I mean, she's acting like she doesn't want to deal with him...Wonder what that's about. I'll talk to her about it some other time._

A knock at the door brought Goku out of his thoughts and he looked up to see Bulma stumble in with a few bags of supplies.

"Hey, told you I'd be back soon." She said with a smile. "Can you get the door for me, please?"

Goku got up to shut the door while Bulma spilled the filled bags onto the table, huffing softly and putting her hands on her hips.

"You said you were getting some supplies..I thought you meant doctor stuff." Goku said as he walked back to his seat. "What's all this?"

Bulma wiped her brow and started searching around in one bag, seemingly looking for something specific. "Well, while I was waiting for the pharmacy to fill the script, I thought I would browse around and picked up a few more things to help you out. I'll explain everything in a second, but first things first; did you get to see Vegeta?"

Blinking at her, Goku nodded, "Yeah, I did...He...doesn't look so good."

Bulma gave a grim smile as she reached in the other bag and took out a white paper bag that was stapled shut. "Did Kimi give you a mask?"

Goku nodded again as he sat down, "Yeah, and some gloves. She didn't let me touch anything once I left his room..gave me some of that stuff you put on your hands earlier...Guess that's a good thing?"

"It is." Bulma gave a genuine smile this time, ripping the stapled bag open to produce a cardboard box from inside. "Means she's abiding by the patient safety guidelines taught to her in med school. Now, down the business."

Holding up the box, the woman shook it lightly. "This is a life saver," she said as she broke the tape seal to take out what looked to be a clear piece of plastic.

Goku arched his brow at it. "What is it?"

Bulma looked at the plastic item and lightly squeezed it between her fingers. "This is fentanyl."

Opening his mouth some, Goku softly smiled, "Oh, Kimi told me about that stuff. Sounds pretty powerful."

Sitting down finally, Bulma brought the clear medicine closer to her friend for a better look. "It is one of the most powerful pain killers. I made a call to my father's doctor and said, 'Hey, my dad has pneumonia and had to have his lungs drained..he's in a massive amount of pain, can you give me some fentanyl?' And here we are with this. This is what Vegeta will wear while his lungs heal. Put this on his arm or back and replace it every three days, okay? Write down the date you put it on as a reminder on the patch itself."

"Won't it wash off if he showers?" Goku asked.

"I'll get you a permanent marker. He needs to wear this until he heals up, which may take a few weeks. However, I must warn you that while he wears this, his mood will change once he wakes up."

Goku cocked his head at Bulma, having the urge to reach up and scratch his head. "What do you mean his mood?"

Bulma put the patch back in the box and set it on the table. "With medicine like fentanyl, it changes the brain's response to pain and can change your behavior along with it. You may act in a way that you wouldn't normally act. I mean, it wouldn't surprise me if Vegeta was acting really confused and happy for no reason when on this stuff."

Goku's eyebrows shot up slightly as he scoffed, the first sign of him beginning to relax. "Now that's a change in behavior for sure."

They both lightly chuckled before Bulma continued. "Well, from what I hear, the mood changes can be more drastic...like, a person who is not the loving type can become loving or touchy-feely. They can also cry or laugh for no reason, be lackadaisical, you get it."

The young saiyan whistled and shook his head. "Yeah, thanks for telling me. That is weird, but glad to know that...otherwise I'd be flipping out if he tried to kiss me."

Once the words left his mouth, Goku wished he could take them back. He nervously laughed to play it off as a joke and hoped Bulma saw the humor behind it. He was thankful that she did by laughing too, and he internally tried to keep his face from turning bright red.

"Anyway, uh...if he stares at things or just doesn't respond to you, don't be alarmed. The doctor told me that this behavior is common with this drug. Apparently hallucinations are not a rare occurrence either, so if he stares off or seems to be looking at things that aren't there, it's nothing to worry yourself over, he's just hallucinating and that will go away once the medicine has run its course. Good so far?"

"Yeah, I'm following." Goku answered, glad they moved past his slip of the tongue.

Bulma opened another white bag and brought out a medicine bottle, holding it up for Goku to see. "Okay, this is an antibiotic called Levofloxacin. It's to help clear up the pneumonia. Make sure he takes one of these once a day for ten days."

"What do I do if I run out and he needs more?" He asked, leaning back in his chair.

"Then you call me. I doubt his symptoms would last that long where he needs more of it after ten days, but just let me know. Now, let's move on to fever control."

Taking out another medicine bottle, Bulma put it on the table in front of Goku this time. "Aspirin, nothing to say about it other than it's for fever. Have him take one of those every day until his fever breaks."

"Right." Goku nodded. "But can we go back to that...fentan-thing?"

Taking up the box again, Bulma blinked at it. "What about it?"

"Can it get wet? I mean, I know we just talked about showers, but can it be submerged in, let's say, a bath?" Goku scratched his head.

"He can wear it while having a bath, yes," Bulma answered, "just make sure the water isn't too hot, though. Hot water can make the medicine secrete more into his system and that's not good. Oh, and while on the subject; uh...even after we drained Vegeta's lungs, he will still have trouble breathing. It's possible that his lungs can fill back up and to alleviate this issue, have him sit in the shower with hot water flowing, but not directly on him. The steam will open up his lungs and help him breathe."

Goku's toes curled inside of his shoes, and he fought the urge to ball up his hands. "R...Right."

As if knowing that Goku wanted to move on, Bulma already set up the next thing to discuss, this time it was a box of gauze, medical tape, plastic wrap, a pack of cotton balls and a bottle of antiseptic.

"Alright, next are these things. Gauze for his drain sites. Change those twice a day, once in the morning and before bed. This tape is water proof, so when he showers, his wounds are covered, but I'm giving you plastic wrap to tape over them as a precaution. Just clean the holes with the antiseptic on a cotton ball and put a fresh padding of gauze once they are clean. There's a pair of scissors in the bag you can use to cut the tape so you don't have to rip it from his skin. If you still see his bandages leak, that's normal. All you do is change the dressing..but wear the gloves I'm giving you when you do it."

The saiyan gulped back his anxiety, not wanting to necessarily have to deal with cleaning wounds, much less look at some holes in someone's lungs, but once he told himself that it was his prince he was doing this for, his fear dissipated. He swallowed then, fighting the need to rub his hands.

"A-Anything else?"

Bulma shrugged and put the medicines in one bag, stashing it aside. "Well, two things before we move on. One, the fentanyl patch needs to be on a different skin site each time you replace it, just fyi, and make sure to hold it to his skin for thirty seconds so it sticks properly. Number two being that if he coughs, that is a good thing. His body is expelling the rest of the fluid from his lungs, so if you see or hear him cough or gag or spit up, that's exactly what you want to happen."

"Sounds gross, but I'm glad it's a good thing." He half-heartedly joked.

His friend gave him a smile, knowing Goku was just trying to make light of the situation as a defense mechanism for his fear. "Okay, moving on, I got you two different types of tea. I got mint and eucalyptus, have him drink one of these a day as well as orange juice. I got you that, too. He has to keep hydrated in order to beat this. Now,"

Rummaging through the bag, Bulma brought out more items; small bags of nuts and seeds, beans, a jar of honey, a container of yogurt, a can of broth, various types of fruits, orange juice and a box of oatmeal.

Sitting up a little more, Goku looked over all the items with some curiosity. "He needs to eat all of this?"

"Well, it would help," Bulma answered, her arms crossed. "This is all the stuff one usually eats when sick with the flu or pneumonia. He won't be up for eating too much, but you can try giving him something. Also, this."

Almost forgetting about it, Bulma slid yet another bottle Goku's way, this one being made from glass. "Have him take one of these a day, it's a probiotic. While he's on an antibiotic, he needs one of these to keep his gut healthy. Antibiotics tend to wipe out your system, so taking this will help boost his immune system. I'd say he needs it regardless if he's on antibiotics anyway."

Looking over all the food items, Goku half way groaned, "Aw, this sucks..no meat?"

Bulma was half way tempted to roll her eyes. "There's protein in the yogurt, but if you want to fish and try to feed that to him, you can. Just know that the drugs he'll be on and the sickness itself will wipe out his appetite."

Goku shrugged and grinned at her. "Sorry, I saw all this and strangely wanted some meat all of the sudden."

"Typical Goku," Bulma teased with a smile before clearing her throat. "Well, that's it. Any questions?"

As Goku watched Bulma pack everything up again, he ran through any possible concerns in his head and couldn't find many that he wanted to bring up. Only one came about that confused him enough to speak up. "What about his stitches? Can they get wet?"

"Oh," Bulma waved her hand, "nothing to worry about. You only have to wait a day before showering with stitches and he'll be clear to do that by tomorrow afternoon. Anything else?"

Goku shook his head then, "No, I don't think so. Thanks, Bulma."

His friend beamed at him, "It's no problem. Just let me quickly go get Vegeta's things and I'll be back shortly."

Getting up quickly, Goku pushed his chair back. "Can you meet me by his room?" When he saw Bulma tilt her head at him, he continued, "Sorry, I just...I want to be with him."

Bulma smirked then, "Just stay outside of the door until I come down with his stuff, okay?"

Goku smiled more this time, nodding. "Right, thanks."

-

Being glued to the door of his prince's room was an understatement when it came to Goku being near Vegeta. He crouched down and sat on the floor in the hallway, lying against the door like his life depended on it. If he understood the structure of normal behavior in society, he wouldn't have his face smashed against the wood or his hand resting on the the door. He looked like a lover who just got rejected and couldn't accept it. He didn't care how he looked though, he wanted to be with Vegeta again.

_That nurse girl went home for the day and I don't have a mask or anything, so I can't see him right now. Guess I'll just have to wait here until Bulma leaves._

He turned his head and rested his forehead against the wood, closing his eyes. His patience was wearing thin again, his need to have something to do nagging at him while he tried to sit still just once while waiting. He would have to have patience with Vegeta when caring for him and he knew this...it was just hard when all he wanted to do was get home so Vegeta could recover faster.

"Hey you," said a voice, making Goku's eyes shoot open and forcing him to look up. His friend smiled down at him with a black bag slung over her shoulder and she swung it around as he got up and dusted himself off.

"This is all his stuff in this bag," She said, handing it to Goku who then put it over his shoulder, "and this is all your supplies." In her other hand were the two bags she came in with earlier.

"I've also written down all the instructions and what we discussed so you don't have to worry about remembering everything..I put them in the medicine bag."

With this, she handed over the two bags to Goku.

"Right," he said, "well, I'm off then. Thank you for letting me do this, Bulma. I don't think I can thank you enough for what you've done."

"It's no trouble at all," Bulma said as she came near, putting her hand on his muscled shoulder. "I'm just glad he's safe. Now, remember, you call me whenever you have questions or need help, okay? No matter the time of day or night, call."

"I will, don't worry." He couldn't hug his friend with his hands full, but he did lean in as Bulma squeezed him into a hug.

"Good luck, Goku." She said, squeezing a little tighter before moving back to look at him. "You'll do just fine."

With this, she stepped back and walked away. Once out of sight, Goku opened the door to his prince's room and shut it behind him.

Goku tried his hardest not to look at Vegeta as he gathered all his bags in one spot beside the bed, as he didn't want to get emotional again if he had a chance look at his sick friend. Reaching down, Goku tied the plastic handles of the bags to the sturdy black backpack Bulma gave him so when he put it over his shoulder, it would be holding the two plastic bags up for him. Slinging that over his shoulders, he turned his attention to the fragile body underneath the covers. Quickly but gently, Goku took off the cold rag against Vegeta's forehead and removed the blankets from him before sliding his arms under Vegeta's back and knees. With his precious burden tucked in his arms, he bent his head forward so his fingers could touch his forehead. Concentrating on locating a big enough energy source, he was pleased to lock on to a dinosaur not far from where his capsule home was. Within seconds of teleporting, he found himself just outside of the house. Sighing that he didn't actually get inside like he wanted, the saiyan gently hiked Vegeta's fragile body up a little for a better grip and walked to the front door, kicking it open and marching straight to the bedroom.

Gently laying Vegeta on the bed, Goku stepped back and took off his backpack, glad to be free of the extra weight. He fluffed Vegeta's pillow and covered him in the plush blankets before caressing a hot cheek. His other hand came up and laced his fingers with Vegeta's, gently squeezing the man's hand with his. Just like last time, he stared at the sleeping prince, but this time he went to kneel by the bed, the hand that rested on Vegeta's cheek joining its mate with cupping Vegeta's hand in his own. He didn't know why, but those emotions he swallowed down came right back up just then to wreak havoc upon him, forcing him to be angry with himself and at the same time be grateful that Vegeta was still alive. Goku bowed his head and rested it against Vegeta's hand, his throat aching with the threat of tears.

 _All this time, I felt like I lost you, Vegeta,_ He bit back his tears. _I won't lose you again..._


	8. Drown

The moment Goku composed himself and got back control of his emotions, he got up from kneeling and tucked Vegeta's hand under the covers. He fought his urges that bombarded him every time he looked at Vegeta lying there, having a hard time trying not to touch the prince when that was all that was on his mind right now. He wanted to grab up Vegeta into a bear hug, to kiss his face and tell him how fucking selfish he was for almost leaving Goku, to hold him close and tell him that everything was going to be alright. He couldn't though, as much as he wanted to, he couldn't give in until Vegeta was better.

 _Until?!_ He thought with a sense of panic. _No, that's not...not like that._

Distracting himself from these intrusive thoughts, Goku flew to the medical bag attached to the backpack and untied it, fishing around for the first medicine he thought Vegeta needed. Taking out the box, the saiyan gently opened the flaps to produce a fentanyl patch. His other hand rummaged for that marker Bulma said she would give him while holding the medicine between his fingers, childishly squishing the medicine in the clear plastic. Finding the marker, he wrote the date on it and waved it around for it to dry before turning around towards Vegeta again.

 _Just like Bulma said,_ he reminded himself, _put it on his arm and hold._

Peeling the protective seal from the patch, he did just that, uncovering the feverish prince and sticking it to Vegeta's upper arm, covering his whole hand over the patch for thirty seconds so it would stick. Satisfied that the patch wasn't going anywhere, he tucked the covers back over Vegeta as he slumbered on.

_Guess you're going to feel a bit loopy once you wake up..but it's better than you having to be in pain._

Looking back at the bags on the floor, Goku took up both and made his way towards the kitchen, setting them on the counter top. He quickly put away perishable food items in the fridge and left the rest on the counter, not really feeling like dealing with all of it at the moment. He opened up the medicine bag next and while taking out each medicine bottle, he was careful in reading the instructions before setting them in a line on the counter. When retrieving the probiotic bottle, he found it had to be refrigerated as well, thinking it odd that pills had to be in the fridge, but he quickly dismissed it and stashed them inside along with the food. 

Once slightly organized, Goku went back to the bedroom and just stood in the doorway, watching Vegeta sleep. He leaned against the door frame with his arms crossed as he stared, wondering why he simply couldn't be away from the prince for long. Perhaps their time away from each other for the past couple of weeks left him empty, this being why he wanted to be near...a way to catch up on time when they couldn't be together. However, he thought that as much as he understood that Vegeta was here with him now, it still didn't feel like he was. Vegeta wasn't up and talking or complaining, he wasn't calling Goku's name or eating or sparring with him..it was like retrieving the shell of the person he was hoping to find. He knew that Vegeta would get better, but he was still freaking out about this sickness that had taken hold of his prince. The cleaning of the drain sites, the future hacking, the possibility of vomit, it gave him the willies. He could feel his anxiety stew in his chest as he stared at his newly acquired patient, the creeping tingle of fear crawling up his back to attach itself around his throat. He swallowed then, trying to keep this monster that was anxiety from choking him.

 _I can do this...I want to do this._ Taking a deep breath, Goku pushed himself from the door.

_Distraction. I need another distraction right now._

He found such when his eyes zeroed in on the black backpack still lying in the middle of the floor. Coming near, he unzipped it and peeled back the flap cover, looking inside. Goku wasn't one to snoop or be nose-y when it came to other people's things; he never really saw what good it would do and most of the time he never really cared..but seeing that these were Vegeta's things, his curiosity piqued. He never saw Vegeta's bedroom at Capsule Corps before he and Bulma were dating and wondered what his room was like when living there before marriage.

Was it all blue like Vegeta's suits? Was it sterile like one of the hospital rooms Goku stayed in while recovering from their first fight? Maybe it was decked out in royal colors with a big, king size canopy bed with silk sheets and velvet curtains with tassel ropes. A hint of a smile graced Goku's lips as he thought about it, finding it rather fitting if his prince made his room his personal royal chamber of sorts. At first glance of the inside of the bag, it was all the clothes that Vegeta owned, this being a total of eight clothing items along with his signature gloves and his boots. Most of the clothes never looked worn, like Bulma just picked them up earlier today, and Goku wondered why Vegeta never really wore anything she gave him other than one casual outfit.

Taking all the clothes out and placing them on his lap, Goku found more items at the bottom of the bag. Looking at the items as he took them out, Goku was dismissive with a few things he knew he would find when it came to Vegeta's belongings, like pictures of Bulma and cards from his children, but other items surprised him enough to make his eyebrows raise at what he was looking at.

Turning on the lamp on the bedside table, he saw an array of things. A patch of the royal house of Vegeta wrapped in a satin cloth, some gold rings and coins mixed together in a small plastic bag, a small pair of dog tags with some etchings he couldn't understand, some folded papers, a dagger with a delicately carved handle, a partially empty lighter, and a slightly crushed pack of cigarettes.

Goku scowled at the pack of smokes, trying to think back to any point in his time knowing Vegeta that he saw him having a smoking habit. While he didn't want to judge, he did find it to be both a horrible thing to pick up and also something Vegeta would do. Hypocritical, he thought, now that he looked deeper into it; for someone who was always about being the strongest and being in top shape, Vegeta sure fucked it up by damaging himself by way of this. Forgetting about it, he moved on to other items, and these ones were...interesting.

In a wrapped up bag was a long lock of black hair tied with a purple ribbon, a red pouch containing an unmarked vial of dark red liquid, a silver card holder with brown animal hair taped in the center of the inside, a white cloth that looked like it had been ripped from something with old blood splatter on it, and a tiny bottle filled with what looked to be water with a type of cord around its neck and a cork at the top. On the bottom of the bottle was an etched marking of sorts and what Goku could see from the tiny marked item was a line like an H with a dot at the top of the letter and two swoops underneath it.

 _Strange._ Goku thought.

Setting it aside, he cleaned out the bottom of the backpack while holding the zipper flap open and when he put everything back, ready to close the flap again, he noticed something. The outside flap of the backpack itself felt heavier than the rest of the bag when Goku flipped the flap back and forth, and he felt the weight of something hidden inside. Finding a zipper on the outside, he opened it and took out the weighted object.

A book..quite an old book from the looks of it. It reminded Goku of one of the fairy tale books Grandpa Gohan would read to him before bed when he would get fussy, but this one looked slightly different. It was leather bound, burgundy in color with the cover being decorated in gold foil that curled and warped around the edges. The gold leaf pages looked somewhat faded and scratched from use and time, but they still shined when put into light. The edges of the book were crooked and bent, probably from being banged around all these years wherever Vegeta went, but the leather was not torn and seemed to be holding up well. Opening it up, Goku blinked at the old text on the still slightly crisp pages. He could not read a single word of it, for it was in a language he had never seen before. Symbols with circles, lines under dots, triangle shapes that were slightly slanted, ovals like eyes and other shapes littered the pages from left to right. It was like reading math calculations to Goku; he didn't know what any of it meant.

 _Like that symbol on the bottom of that bottle,_ He said to himself, _Is this the language of our people?_

His questioning was interrupted by a small sound which made his eyes shoot towards the bed at lightening speed. Movement. There was movement coming from the bed, and Goku slapped the book shut in one hand and nearly tossed it on top of the backpack at his feet before rushing to his prince's bedside. Vegeta turned his head just slightly away from Goku, facing the wall, another tiny sound escaping his throat that sounded like a whispered groan.

"Vegeta?" Goku softly called to the man, resting his hand against a heated cheek. "Hey, Vegeta, you awake?"

Another soft sound, this time a rasp. Goku moved to the other side of the bed where Vegeta was facing and resumed feeling Vegeta's face and neck. He watched with baited breath as the prince slowly awakened, his eyes only slightly opening up to see the third class warrior hover near. Blinking a few times, Vegeta focused on Goku just then, his eyes remaining half mast from fatigue.

"K...K..." Vegeta's throat clicked, trying to say Goku's name.

"Yes, it's me." Goku said, softly stroking Vegeta's cheek with his knuckles as a way of comfort, trying to familiarize Vegeta with his touch again. "Everything's going to be alright, Vegeta. You're safe now."

Vegeta's eyebrows scrunched as he looked up at Goku looking down at him. It seemed like it took a lot of effort for Vegeta to talk, much less stay awake, but Goku was glad he could read lips. Without speaking, Vegeta's lips moved once in what looked like, "What?"

"You're sick, Vegeta. You have pneumonia. I know you're in pain right now, but it will go away soon, okay? I'm going to help you get better."

Vegeta didn't try to say anything any more, and Goku thought that being awake just after having that damn procedure must be an energy suck, because Vegeta looked like he could do nothing but wince and scowl while lying there. He stared at Goku like he was trying to recognize him and when it seemed he couldn't get a handle on dreaming and being awake, he un-tucked his hand from the covers and slowly brought it towards Goku's face, cupping his cheek. Goku closed his eyes and leaned into his prince's hand, his own coming up to hold the hand against his face.

"I'm right here," he whispered, opening his eyes to look down at Vegeta. "I'm here."

They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity and Goku was just fine with that. He wanted to see Vegeta's eyes, his friend awake, so he didn't question when all Vegeta wanted to do was hold him. He mirrored the prince then and brought his hand up to cover Vegeta's left cheek, mentally screaming when he saw Vegeta mimic him and lean into his hand, closing his eyes. When Vegeta opened them back up, he mouthed something.

"What?" Goku leaned down so his ear was next to Vegeta. "What is it?"

" _...th...thir..._ " Came a weak response.

"Thirsty, got it." Gently squeezing the hand on his face, he put it on the bed and quickly left the room, practically racing towards the cupboard full of glasses. He was quick in pouring some orange juice before flying back to the bedroom, nearly spilling the juice.

"Here, I'll help you," He told Vegeta, kneeling by the bed with his hand supporting the back of Vegeta's head as he tipped the glass to the prince's lips. With every gulp he saw Vegeta drink, Goku felt hopeful, feeling there was a light at the end of the tunnel with Vegeta's sickness. He never felt prouder in his life once he saw that Vegeta had emptied the entire glass.

"Do you want more?" He asked, hoping that keeping Vegeta hydrated would quicken his recovery time. His hopes were dashed when Vegeta weakly shook his head, seeing the man start to drift off again.

Within seconds, Vegeta had fallen back asleep.

Sighing, Goku stood there for a few seconds, staring again before walking back to the kitchen to refill the glass, this time with water. Despite Vegeta wanting no more to drink, he thought it was good to keep a filled glass by his bedside just in case, and it would be easier to give him his medicine when a full glass was already there. Before heading back, Goku grabbed a towel and ran it under the cold faucet, wringing it out. Once damp, he slung the cloth over his shoulder and walked back down the hall to the bedroom. As he walked, he noted the clock on the wall, seeing that it was getting to be almost eight at night.

_I guess I should sleep...it's still early, but it's been a long day already._

Coming back into the room, Goku set the glass down on the nightstand and took the cold, wet cloth from his shoulder and folded it over Vegeta's forehead, hoping it would help bring his fever down. Taking one last look at the slumbering prince, he turned the light out, deciding now was a good time to go to sleep himself. As much as he wanted to lie down in the same bed as Vegeta, he couldn't. He didn't want to crowd Vegeta when he was fighting a bad fever and wanted to be ready for anything in case Vegeta needed something, so he sat in a chair opposite of the bed. While not incredibly comfortable, he didn't mind too much, as long as Vegeta had a plush bed and was comfortable, that's all he could ask for right now. Yawning, he took off his shirts and shoes and leaned back, crossing his arms, hoping tomorrow would be better.

His mouth twitched as he drifted off, the last thought in his head before sleep being, _I wonder how he'll behave tomorrow when that patch takes effect.  
-_

_The next day..._

Goku jolted awake in his chair when his head hit the arm rest, finding himself sprawled half way on the floor and hanging off the edge of the chair.

"Ohhh shit..." He muttered, rubbing his face and yawning. He moaned at the thought of being awake, but knew that once he was up he wasn't going back to sleep. Getting up and stretching, he cracked his neck before rubbing away the sleep from his eyes. Blinking some, he tiredly looked at the bed to find Vegeta still sleeping. With a soft smile, Goku came near to replace the old cloth on Vegeta's head with a fresh cold one from the kitchen.

He got up late today and he was hating himself for it. Looking at the clock, it was nearly nine.

_Damn, I slept almost twelve hours? Some great nurse I ended up being..._

Goku rolled his eyes at himself, feeling ashamed that he was sleeping his job away while Vegeta needed his medicine on time as well as dressing changes twice daily. Grabbing an apple, he stuck it in his mouth while he wet the cloth again and got out the supplies Bulma gave him to care for Vegeta's wounds. He didn't want to wake Vegeta in case he needed more sleep, but he couldn't fail at doing the job he promised he would do. Devouring the apple hanging from his mouth, he gathered up his supplies and headed to the bedroom.

_Okay, instructions, gauze, tape, plastic wrap, gloves, scissors, cotton, aaaaand....liquid stuff, okay I got it all._

Laying everything out on top of the dresser, Goku started to get things ready for a dressing change, being careful to read Bulma's instructions as he did this. Emotionally, he was trying to keep himself distanced from what he was about to do and he hoped his anxiety wouldn't burst through the second he had to look at the holes in Vegeta's ribs. Once getting everything set up, Goku took a deep breath before slowly letting it out. He turned then and gently removed the covers from Vegeta who only wore a pair of black bike shorts. With careful hands, Goku clipped away the used dressing that was taped to Vegeta's skin, noticing the discolored gauze when he peeled it from the hole. He winced when doing this, trying everything in his power not to gag or be sick.

 _Liquid on cotton next,_ he told himself.

Throwing the old gauze away, he dipped the antiseptic on a cotton ball and lightly dabbed it on the hole. Once clean, he placed the new gauze on the drain site while trying to un-stick the end of the sticky tape from his mouth. Pressing one hand on the gauze, he took his other hand and took the tape hanging from his mouth and plastered it over the dressing. Feeling proud of himself for getting through it, he gently maneuvered Vegeta on his other side and treated the drain site just the same. When he finished up, Goku took sheets of plastic wrap and taped them around Vegeta's dressings just in case he needed steam therapy or a shower. He did this as a precaution just like Bulma told him and he was glad that he covered his bases if there ever came a time that Vegeta needed to breathe more.

He stepped back then to observe his work and while looking a little clumsy, he thought he pulled it off just fine. Goku softly smiled and placed the wet cloth he rinsed out back on Vegeta's head before cleaning up, removing his gloves and tossing them in the trash in the kitchen along with the used dressings. Elated that was over with, he mentally padded himself on the back and decided to do something for himself for a little bit, this being a shower.

The saiyan grabbed a towel from the hallway closet and headed towards the bathroom, thinking a quick shower wouldn't hurt. Entering the bathroom just a few feet from Vegeta's bedroom, he flipped on the shower switch to its hottest setting and watched the steam rise as he took his clothes off.

 _I'll just be quick with this,_ He said to himself as he stepped into the boiling stream, _It's not like I've been working out or sparring,_ He half giggled, dunking his head under the water.

-

"Aww, come on, baby, it won't be that bad."

" _NO!! NOOO!!!_ " Vegeta screamed, his throat burning from screaming his lungs out this entire trip.

He fought with what little energy he had left to get away from this monster carrying him, even though he knew it was a losing battle. They were immensely strong, this beast, even when dead and Vegeta cursed their very being for having more strength than him when his own strength had been sapped from him once he came here. He knew that screaming was not helping him conserve energy so he could fight, but his fears had consumed him and this was why he had been caught in this monster's clutches once again. He pushed and kicked and punched, even bit and spit at this person, anything to get them to let him go, but to no avail. His fight didn't seem to faze them too much, if anything, they smirked more when he sank his teeth into their arm or spit in their face. They carried him down to the blood red pond where God knows what else they wanted to do with him and the closer they got, the more frightened Vegeta became.

"Now, you just stop it with all that fussing," They chided, hiking the scared prince up over their shoulder this time to prevent anymore spitting. "This is for your own good. I hear that bringing your soul to the water helps cleanse it. Wouldn't you like that, Geta? To be cleanse by me?"

"You're not what you put yourself as!" Vegeta snarled, attempting to kick the demon in their stomach. "You're a shape shifter! A fucking trickster-you fucking cau-LET ME GO!!"

Once his captor waded into the water, they picked Vegeta up off their shoulder and held him by his waist, forcing him to see their face.

"Ah, but not until you've been washed of your sins," They cooed to him, "you know I'm only trying to help you, don't you, Geta?"

Before Vegeta could answer, a hand came up to play with his hair and a pair of soft lips came and caressed his own. Vegeta shook in this monster's arms, terrified at what was to come, if anything. It was always the same when it came to playing this game, and how ever much he wished it would stop, it never did, nor did it ever change. He knew by how things were going already that they would end badly for him...he had been hunted for too long to know that he would never get away, so he accepted it, hoping with every fiber of his being that he didn't end up hurt.

Vegeta clutched their shoulders with shaking hands, silently begging for them not to do what they were about to do. He felt them slide their tongue in his mouth, which he opened more to battle his own against theirs, praying nothing more would come of this exchange. He tried to be as soft as them and failed, feeling them take over and gently play with his mouth. He strangely felt both comforted by their soft touches and terrified of them. This was bad...horribly bad that they were being this way with him and Vegeta's heart dropped when they pulled back from the kiss and looked at him with a genuine smile. They unhooked his fingers from their shoulders and felt Vegeta fight to stay glued to them.

"Don't do it." Vegeta begged, his pride in pieces. "D-Don't-"

"Shhhh...It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you, Geta," They said, smoothing the back of his spikes with a gentle hand. "It's just a bath. Can't have a bath unless you let me go, you know."

Vegeta shivered while looking at them, reluctantly pulling his arms back so he was not touching them, knowing he wasn't strong enough to fight. He gulped down the massive lump in his throat that tried to suffocate him as he looked into their eyes. Black...Black as his own...

Their eyes changed then once he looked at them, turning as red as the water beneath them. "I love you, Vegeta."

The next thing Vegeta knew was that his head was being shoved under water, the hand holding him there gripping the back of his neck in a hold tight enough to crush his neck bones in half. He violently struggled to loosen the grip, feeling another hand twist itself in his hair and pulling hard enough to where his scalp felt like it was on fire. He screamed under the surface, trying to twist every which way to get some air, but nothing helped. It was only when he was violently pulled to the surface that he was able to breathe.

"You fall for it every fucking time, don't you, little prince?" A cold but familiar voice snarled in his ear. "To think I actually cared about you? Hah! That's a fucking joke!"

This monster thrust him back under the water, this time kicking their foot against his head as the damned prince braved for a second wave of drowning. After a minute of being under, he was brought back up, himself coughing this time.

"Love, the fuck even is that? Lies, Vegeta! You're so fucking stupid to actually fall for something that doesn't exist. You will learn now, won't you?"

Vegeta could do nothing but cough as he was hung above the bloody water by his neck and hair.

 _"WON'T YOU?!!"_ They roared in his ear, their grip on his neck and hair tightening even more.

He choked and gagged around the hand crushing his throat, but nodded what he could of his head.

"That's better," The voice cooed, as if they didn't just make him deaf with their screaming. "I think another bath is in order here."

Just like that, Vegeta was slammed into the water, being drowned by the worst demon in Hell.

-

"That's better." Goku quietly said to himself, ruffling a towel through his hair as he walked down the hall. Despite his shower being quick, it did do the trick in making him feel better. He felt sluggish beforehand when waking up, but showers always seemed to brighten him up once he stepped out. Looking in on Vegeta, Goku saw that the prince was moving slightly under the covers. Scowling, he walked the rest of the way in and tossed his towel to the side, standing next to the bed and closely observing Vegeta who wouldn't stop moving.

"Vegeta?" He softly spoke, his hand reaching out to gently grab a clammy shoulder. "Vegeta?"

Vegeta's eyes opened then, himself attempting to suck air into his lungs. He looked up at Goku with his mouth open, his throat clicking again. His frightened eyes found Goku's worried ones as he reached out towards the other saiyan.

"What is it? ...Vegeta, what's wrong?" Goku became more panicked as he saw Vegeta look at him, watching as he seemed to be gasping for air.

 _His lungs!_ Goku screamed in his head, his eyes widening in realization. _He's not able to breathe!_

Goku flew into protective mode and swiped the head cloth and blankets from the sick prince with lightening speed and carried him to the bathroom. He didn't even bother to walk this time as he flew both of them into the bathroom where he set the suffocating prince down and kicked the door closed. Goku almost violently cut the shower on again, the hottest setting screaming through the pipes as it attempted to cover the room in steam. With panicked breathing, Goku gathered up Vegeta again and brought both of them into the shower stall where Goku closed the glass door and sat on the shower floor with his prince.

"It's okay, Vegeta." He said, trying to keep his voice from sounding panicked. "It's going to be okay, just stay with me."

Goku could see Vegeta's eyes begin to droop as he tried breathing in air his lungs couldn't get. His fear spiked once he saw Vegeta's complexion go pale again, as if his blood pressure was dropping, his lips just starting to turn blue. He maneuvered the prince so his back was to his chest and stretched the both of them back so their diaphragms were open. Although he saw the room fill with a smoke like vapor, Goku's heart was pounding with fear, thinking Vegeta was dying in his arms and he needed more than just steam therapy.

He tilted Vegeta's head back against his shoulder, keeping his chin up so his airways were open.

"Breathe," He told the struggling prince, inhaling and exhaling himself. "Breathe with me, Vegeta."

He could see Vegeta trying to breathe in like he was saying, but he also saw just how difficult it was for the other saiyan as he felt a hand try to grip his own for purchase. Goku grabbed up both of Vegeta's hands in his own, interlacing their fingers together and placing them upon Vegeta's chest. After a few scary moments of struggling, he felt the prince start to breathe in the steam nice and slow. They stayed like that for several minutes until Goku saw Vegeta breathe through his nose, watching his chest rise and fall in a normal fashion.

Vegeta titled his head to the side, his face next to Goku's as if he was tired, and Goku let him lean against him, completely understanding that the act of breathing through this may be exhausting. Goku titled his head back against the slightly cold tile of the shower stall and breathed in the steam himself, trying to calm down from the scare they just had. He felt Vegeta moved just then, un-sticking their fingers from each other and attempting to sit up on his own. With great worry, Goku held his hands in the air in case Vegeta were to stumble back, but what he saw Vegeta do instead surprised him. Vegeta turned around to look at Goku, the eyes of a thousand years staring at him, looking dead but also very scared, and Goku wondered what Vegeta was staring at when looking at him the way he was. He was about to ask what was wrong until he felt Vegeta come close and wrap his arms around his neck, the man moving his legs so he was straddling Goku's lap with his knees on either side of his hips. Vegeta glued himself to Goku's person, half nuzzling his face against Goku's cheek with his eyes closed.

 _What...the...?_ Goku questioned, feeling weirded out by Vegeta's change in behavior.

He felt Vegeta splay his hands against his back and try to come closer to him, his chin resting on Goku's shoulder.

"V-Vegeta?"

"Just hold me, please..." Was a frightened but whispered plea to his ear, the first sentence spoken to him in weeks.

Goku broke then, his eyes welling up as he did what his prince had asked. He hooked an arm around Vegeta's waist, the other arm coming around Vegeta's shoulders so Goku's hand cradled the back of his head. Ever since that day at the river, with Vegeta looking at him the way he did as he flew away, this was what Goku wanted; to hold Vegeta like this, to protect him from what frightened him. He never wanted to let him go.

He tried to keep his emotions down, but that dull ache in his jaw came back as he was overcome by sudden tears, and he couldn't help it when they rolled down his face as he sat there with his dear friend in his arms. Bowing his head into Vegeta's shoulder, he clutched the man closer to him.

 _I almost lost you again,_ He softly sobbed on the outside as he gently rocked the both of them. _Oh god...I almost lost you..._

His soft sobbing ceased once he felt Vegeta make a strange noise right next to his ear. He held his breath, hoping to hear it again, and he did. A cough. A few coughs filled the thick air and it was the most beautiful sound Goku had ever heard in his life. Vegeta was coughing up the rest of the fluid.

"That's it," Goku whispered in encouragement, gently patting Vegeta's back. "Get it all out."

A gag this time, the sound of something being spit up ringing in his ears.

Oh, sweet blessed gods, this is amazing.

The more Goku heard Vegeta cough, the more relieved he felt. He could feel yack and spit drip down his back as Vegeta hacked up more and he didn't care. Vegeta could have thrown up on him and he wouldn't bat an eye at it, he wanted that sickness out of his prince. After a few minutes of coughing and hacking, things seemed to have subsided for now, and Goku was content on simply holding the other saiyan as the water continued to go down the drain. Sighing, he buried his face into the side of Vegeta's neck as he unconsciously kissed the wet skin he found there. He kissed up to Vegeta's ear, then up to his temple, not caring whatsoever how it looked; he felt like this was the only way he could feel Vegeta with him. Just then, he felt Vegeta's body go slack against his. Slightly panicking again, he brought his fingers up to Vegeta's neck, relieved when he found a pulse. Vegeta had just passed out.

Turning the water off, Goku carefully stood up with Vegeta, his friend's arms still slung over his shoulders as he exited the shower. While walking back to the bedroom, he stopped at the hall closet for another towel before making his way to his destination. He set the towel on to the bed before lowering Vegeta upon it. Taking care of slipping off the wet shorts Vegeta was wearing and towel drying his prince, Goku made sure to be careful with the wrapped dressings on Vegeta's ribs. Once done, he saw that Vegeta was coming in and out of consciousness and thought it was the Fentanyl working its magic, so he half heartedly dismissed it, knowing his friend was no longer in pain.

Finding a pair of gi pants and tank top from Vegeta's bag, Goku quickly dressed the royal saiyan and covered him with the blankets he threw off earlier. Briefly, he left for the kitchen and got a cocktail of the pills Vegeta was supposed to take into his hand and when he walked back in to the room, he saw Vegeta half way trying to sit up.

"I need you to try and swallow some pills, Vegeta," Goku told him, "They're to help you feel better."

He grabbed the glass off the night stand and gave the bunch of pills to Vegeta, who stared at him with wide, unblinking eyes as Goku popped each one into his mouth and held the glass of water to his lips to drink. When he took everything, Goku set the empty glass back on the table and stood back after he tossed the towel that was on the bed to the corner of the room.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

He didn't get an answer, instead, Vegeta stared at him as he half sat up in bed, his eyes seemingly boring into him. They rolled into the back of his head for a split second before turning back to the third class warrior, Vegeta not moving a muscle. Goku came near to look closely at Vegeta's eyes and cupped his face in his hands, becoming shocked when Vegeta did the same and kissed him. The worried saiyan pulled back slightly with great reluctance as he felt Vegeta's hands slide from his cheeks to his jaw, the pads of his fingers lightly holding his chin.

"Vegeta..."

"Stay?" Vegeta softly asked as he held Goku's face, his brows scrunched up in a pleading manner. "Please?"

Goku smiled softly and got into the bed, watching as Vegeta gently let go of him to slide down into the covers. He joined his prince under the blankets and when he laid his head on the plush pillow, he felt Vegeta come near and sling his arm around his neck again. His own arms curled around Vegeta's neck and back, cradling him to his broad chest. He felt Vegeta rest his head against his chest while on his side, cuddling up to him and Goku scooted a little closer and kissed the flame of hair belonging to his friend. It wasn't long before both of them drifted off to sleep again.


	9. Drugged

_Damn, it's raining again?_ Goku asked himself, looking out of the kitchen window. The saiyan sighed then, going back to his task, beginning to feel the disappointment of watching another dreary day go by. 

As Goku listened to the rain patter against the window, he wondered when he would be able to get back to training if time allowed him such a luxury. He was itching to get back to his normal routine, but understood that even if the day seemed promising, he would not be able to empty his mind and train as he wished now that he had this new 'job' he ensnared himself in. He wasn't against caring for Vegeta, far from it actually, he just hoped the prince would recover soon so they could train together as they did previous to the unfortunate circumstance that was Vegeta's illness.

 _I suppose I should train my mind in the meantime,_ He said to himself as he took out a knife from the drawer. _Whis did say that I needed to work on my patience with things. Maybe Vegeta is teaching me how to do that._

His mind drifted towards the bedroom, his thoughts occupied with the saiyan prince while he worked the cutting board. They took him back to yesterday in the shower where arms held bodies and kisses were shared. That had never happened before and Goku never expected Vegeta to kiss him, much less plead with Goku to hold him. It was unlike anything Goku had seen from his friend before and he wondered if Vegeta's behavior was something that was previously buried that was being brought up from the depths of Vegeta's subconscious.

_He's always been so...cold. I wonder if how he's acting is something genuine that he doesn't want me to know about. Could this be how he really feels? Is he that vulnerable on the inside?_

The whole incident replayed in his head over and over as he stood at the counter, mindlessly chopping. The fear in Vegeta's voice, the arms around his neck...the way royal lips felt against his own. Goku touched his lips with the tips of his fingers, not really believing that Vegeta, the guy who hated his guts for more than a decade, kissed him. He felt that Vegeta did not really mean to do it, just like he probably did not mean to envelope him into an embrace in the shower. However, there was a small part of Goku that thought Vegeta was not acting...that he was honestly that scared of something that Goku could not help him with.

_Wonder if his fear was because he couldn't breathe or if it was a nightmare. He really seemed to be shaken up about it regardless of what it was._

Finishing with his cutting and getting a bowl of fruit and yogurt together, Goku chose to go check on Vegeta. He entered the dark bedroom to see Vegeta curled up under the covers. Coming to stand at the side of the bed, he checked Vegeta's forehead, noticing that his fever was on its last legs and about to break. He softly smiled, sitting on the edge of the bed, trailing his hand from heated skin to soft hair. His hand threaded through the thick flame as he gently woke up his friend, hoping to get him to eat.

Vegeta slowly came to, his eyes blinking open as he moved under the covers. Looking up, he saw Goku smile down at him.

"Kaka?" He said, rubbing the sleep from his eye.

 _Kaka?_ Goku mentally questioned, _Strange hearing that from Vegeta. Guess the patch has altered his mood quite a bit, just like Bulma said._

"Yeah, it's me. How are you feeling, Vegeta? Feel like having some food?"

Vegeta stretched slowly, attempting to inhale through his nose but flinching slightly as his damaged ribs screamed at him not to pull his muscles too much. He ignored the slight pain and stretched his legs under the covers, bringing them up so his feet were flat against the mattress.

"My ribs hurt." He said quietly with closed eyes.

"Here, let me check." Goku uncovered the sick prince to have a look at the dressings.

Vegeta seemed content to just lie there as Goku lifted his tank top, smiling with lidded eyes while the Fentanyl patch warped his perception of pain. He stayed silent as Goku checked him, playing with the bouncy head of hair in front of him and softly smiling when the ends of Goku's spikes tickled his nose.

"You need to be changed again," Goku said softly, almost to himself.

He took Vegeta's hands away from his hair and got up, getting his supplies together for another change while his royal patient lay on the bed. Once ready, he turned and was surprised to see Vegeta spreading his legs invitingly, sleepily grinning at him with clouded eyes. Goku tried suppressing the shiver that went through his body, gulping back the irritant in his throat that suddenly appeared once seeing Vegeta display himself provocatively.

 _It's just the medicine,_ He was reminded. _The pain patch is making him act like this._

Ignoring the tingle deep within his stomach, he straddled the sick prince and bunched Vegeta's top up around his armpits before pulling on another pair of medical gloves.  
Both of them were silent as Goku worked, the young saiyan attempting to have patience with this endeavor, trying to concentrate on not messing up the steps in changing the dressings while Vegeta became somewhat fidgety, looking all around the room with a sense of curiosity.

"Wooow..." Vegeta softly drew out, slowly moving his head all around as well as his damaged torso.

"Hold still, Vegeta." Goku told him, taping one clean dressing to one rib and moving to the other.

"Like water...but rollin' smoke." Vegeta said, staring at the ceiling with a drugged up smile. He giggled then. "And pink..."

Vegeta slowly brought his arms up and clutched at the air, his hallucination rolling past him while he laid in a plain bedroom, getting changed by his rival. He rolled his head back to see the cotton candy like clouds drift past him, and he giggled again when a small cloud came by and touch the tip of his nose when in reality it was Goku's spiky hair again. More soft pink clouds, the fluffiest he had ever seen, came rolling past him and he finally caught one in his weak hands and brought it to his mouth. He rolled the sweetly spun sugar with his tongue, bringing the clouds closer to devour the feather-light candy that turned to liquid the second it hit his mouth. It was the sweetest flavor he ever had the pleasure of tasting.

"Mm!" Goku's muffled cry was ignored as the prince gripped his head in his hands and licked the inside of his mouth in euphoric pleasure. Goku braced himself against the bed on his elbows, trying not to crush Vegeta while attempting to pull back from the older saiyan's mouth.

His attempt was only half serious and he knew this. It was so hard to fight the urge to continue, to fight this desire to clutch Vegeta to him as he plundered his mouth like he wanted to for days. Despite his mind screaming at him that this was wrong, that Vegeta was hallucinating and he was taking advantage of his friend's drugged state, Goku wrestled with these thoughts as he tasted the other's mouth that felt so divine against his own. He didn't think this would happen, for he thought he was strong enough to resist such temptations to touch and kiss the other man. His continuous dismissal with how he felt about Vegeta was at an end. No longer could he go on as if the kissing in the shower never happened, nor could he ignore the split second feeling of want being captured between them in the bedroom. His self control was spiraling out of control like a plane in a tail spin with each lick of the prince's tongue, and he knew if he allowed his desires to consume him, there was no going back.

_He's hallucinating. As good as this feels...I must...stop this._

As easy as it was to pull up out of Vegeta's weak grip, the same could not be said when it came to pulling away from such soft lips caressing his own. Tongues battled lightly against each other as one partner laid down with spread legs while the other pushed his crotch against the bed to alleviate his pain.

 _You have to stop this!_ Goku's mind screamed, breaking him out of this pleasurable spell.

Goku gasped then, pulling himself away from Vegeta who lay against the white, ruffled sheets with his hands up by his head, still trying to clutch the open air with a smile on his face as he dreamily looked up at Goku.

"Vegeta..." Goku said in a quiet but shocked voice, staring down at the prince.

Vegeta licked his lips, his tongue gliding across his perfectly white teeth. "Delicious."

Goku opened his mouth to speak when a loud whine broke out between them, their eyes finding the source of the noise to be Vegeta's stomach.

"Time to eat," Goku said, pulling off his gloves.

"'M not hungry." Vegeta mumbled, coughing and spitting up while looking all around him again with heavy eyes.

"Oh, yes you are." Goku told him, assisting his friend to sit up. "Come on, let's get you some food."

Not budging the slightest, Vegeta surprised him again when he brought his knees up by his ribs and reached his hands out to Goku, giving a semblance of helplessness like a baby asking to be held.

"Mm...-cough-carry me."

_Uh..._

"Let's cover you in the blanket first." He said, fixing Vegeta's top and wrapping him up in the top blanket on the bed. "Don't want you to come down with chills again."

With this, he picked up his drugged friend and walked out to the living room.

Setting Vegeta down on the white couch, Goku cleaned more spit up from Vegeta's lips from his coughing, then walked into the kitchen just a few feet away. While finishing up on the yogurt fruit bowl he made earlier, Goku decided to gauge how Vegeta was feeling, seeing this as a good time to talk now that Vegeta was awake.

"So, I guess you're feeling pretty good right now, right?" He started, multitasking by grabbing a spoon out of the drawer and pouring water into a kettle for tea.

He minded very little when his question went unanswered, remembering Bulma telling him that Vegeta might ignore him at times. Looking over his shoulder slightly, he saw Vegeta sit up with his head tilted back against the couch cushions, his jaw slack and his eyes rolling to the back of his head a few times.

"Uh...make sure you stay covered," He spoke up, "You hear me, Vegeta?"

Again, no answer. He heard movement behind him as Vegeta laid down on the circular white couch that morphed into big puffs of marshmallows courtesy of his hallucinating mind.

"Sooooore..." Vegeta slightly drew out, his speech noticeably slurred.

Goku didn't comment on Vegeta's seemingly random reply, instead he thought back to a few moments ago when seeing the amount of bruises and stitched up cuts on Vegeta's body when changing him. They looked like they hurt, the purple and blue marks on his prince, and Goku had no doubt that was what Vegeta was referring to. In all honesty, Goku was surprised that Vegeta didn't break any bones from lying under those boulders, or have a fractured skull from his head injury.

_Whis was right. His strength is why he's not in worse shape...he was able to fight off this sickness while being crushed by rocks...How he was able to breathe through that with fluid in his lungs, I'll never know. You continue to amaze me, Vegeta._

"I'll give you some aspirin with your tea," He said, putting the kettle on. "It should help with both your fever and your soreness."

"Kaka, you're so kind...n carin'...n lovin'." Vegeta spoke softly, grabbing up one of the marshmallow puffs and laying down with it.

Goku smiled, picking out the mint tea box from the line up on the counter. "Thank you, Vegeta. I'm glad you think so."

"-cough- I know so." Vegeta's attention shifted to the tiny flying creatures zipping around him. "I feel amazin' now 'cause you take such good care of me."

His sweet confession was interrupted by a terrible fit of coughs racking his chest, the sound of hacking filling the air instead of words. Goku grabbed a napkin for just such an occasion and tucked it in the side of his pants for safe keeping along with an aspirin for Vegeta's aches.

"So, how does the patch make you feel? I know you just said you feel amazing, but what does everything feel like?"

The sick prince did not speak just then, instead his eyes shifted again towards the marshmallows disguised as white pillow cushions. He grabbed up the one that fell on the ground from his coughing fit and suckled on the tip of it as he settled in his blanket cocoon.

"Like 'm layin' on a cloud," He finally spoke up between suckles. "'m warm 'n safe and happy with my horse friends."

Goku blinked strangely when hearing this as he poured hot tea into a coffee mug. "Horse friends? You mean imaginary friends?"

Vegeta mumbled something Goku could not decifer, the man snuggling up in his blanket with his marshmallow puff. "...Liginas...they fly n' look like Digones...Flyyyyying 'round."

 _Okay, Vegeta's hallucinating big time._ Goku mentally commented. _That's one hell of a drug Bulma put him on._

Gathering up a cup of tea and the bowl of food he made, he accompanied the prince and attempted to uncover Vegeta from his cozy-looking burrow once he set the food down on the table in front of them. Just like in the bedroom when Goku came near, Vegeta opened his legs again once Goku removed the blanket, reaching his hands out as he had done so previously.

Trying desperately to ignore the tempting display, Goku shifted gears and reached into his sash for the aspirin he put there. "Here, try to sit up so you can take this."

"Kaka, did you know you look beautiful with glitter in your hair?" Vegeta said, seemingly ignoring Goku's request. "The glitter air jus' swirls round you like sugar...and your eyes sparkle."

 _This is so weird,_ Goku thought. _He acts like a baby but talks like a lover._

"I didn't know." He said, mentally slapping himself for answering that way. "Come on, have some tea so you can take your pill."

Vegeta ignored him again, instead, he grabbed up his lost marshmallow that kept falling off the couch and squeezed it to his chest. He closed his eyes and softly smiled, winding his legs around the cushion as he licked the painted leather that tasted of powdered sugar.

"Vegeta, here." Goku tried getting his attention with the cup of tea, desperately endeavoring to ignore the bewildering behavior his friend was displaying and focusing on getting the man better.

Turning his head, Vegeta lazily eyed the cup being presented to him, uninterested eyes staring at the steaming beverage. Looking up at Goku, he spoke.

"Can I have it with the marshmallow fluff?" He asked, smiling uncharacteristically soft.

_Marshmallow fluff? What the hell are these hallucinations?_

"Yes, but you have to take a pill with your tea first." Goku said, still holding the cup in the air.

Seemingly forgetting marshmallow fluff and cotton candy clouds, Vegeta half way sat up and looked at the slightly green liquid in the mug. Bringing his mouth to the lip of it, he sipped the hot tea while Goku held it for him. He didn't say anything then, and Goku was about to tell him again to take the hot cup when he saw Vegeta crawl under his outstretched arms and curl himself up in Goku's lap, his head resting upon his rival's powerful chest. He nestled himself into the crook of Goku's arm with his hand clutching the saiyan's shirt, looking up at the younger saiyan with soft, expecting eyes.

 _He wants me to feed it to him?_ Goku asked himself. _Alright._

He gave Vegeta some aspirin and tipped the steaming cup to his lips, watching as he took little sips of the refreshing tea. Once Vegeta had enough, Goku picked up the bowl of yogurt and handed it to Vegeta...who still refused to do anything for himself.

_How strange for him to act this way. Has the medicine really changed his mental state that much? I suppose I should be grateful; it's not everyday I get to hold him like this..or see him in a way that he wouldn't dare show me otherwise._

Mentally shrugging, Goku picked up the spoon and fed the prince as if he were a baby.

He scooped up a cut up strawberry from the mix and tipped it to a starving mouth, watching as its owner took each bite happily, seemingly enjoying the feeling of being cared for this way. Watching the infantile nature of his friend unfold, Goku tried remembering what Bulma told him about mood changes once Vegeta would be on the patch. Truth be told, he didn't believe her at first. He didn't believe that just a small plastic patch containing a drop of liquid medicine inside of it could alter his prince's behavior in such a way. This was such a drastic change to how Vegeta normally was, obviously; he had become almost child-like in his need for comfort and touch, but at the same time was loving in his praises and kisses like a romantic partner.

While it seemed odd to Goku to see this type of vulnerability within his friend, he didn't want to question the power of the medicine changing Vegeta's state of mind anymore when they both were benefiting from the switch. He could care for Vegeta as he wanted and his patient would blissfully be on the receiving end of such care. It was just difficult for him to disconnect one person from the other, this being how he always saw Vegeta and how he viewed him now.  
Here was his enemy turned friend, a former prince/soldier who annihilated numerous planets and killed billions of people, snuggling up to his rival who he obsessed over killing one day as said man spoon fed him sweet yogurt while holding him to his chest like a small child. It was incredibly strange to say the least.

"You're so good t' me, Kaka," Vegeta brought him out of his thoughts with his lovely comment, lazily taking another bit of sweet yogurt and fruit. "You're lovin' n' patient n' sweet n' gentle..n' I love when you hold me."

Goku swallowed then, his hand slightly hovering with the spoon in his hand after giving Vegeta another bite. Looking at his rival chew somewhat messily while staring at him, Goku felt both happy and confused. Never has Vegeta spoken to him like that, let alone use words like "loving" and "sweet" in the same sentence. This drug...this Fentanyl was messing with his friend's head in a huge way and he did not know if that was a good thing or not.

Candy clouds? Marshmallow fluff? Sweet talk while being spoon fed?

 _I mean, as long as he's not in pain, I don't think I should have an issue with this,_ He told himself. _It's weird to see him like this, but I need to remember that he's not suffering. Just go with the flow, man._

"You like when I take care of you, don't you?" Goku asked in a gentle tone, grabbing the napkin he stashed earlier and wiping Vegeta's mouth with it.

Vegeta closed his eyes and slowly nodded, smiling up at him. 

"I feel loved," he confessed in a quiet tone, "you're so gentle with me, too. I want that all the time. Will you always take care of me, Kaka?"

Chasing the last of the yogurt, Goku fed the final bits to his prince with a loving smile. "I'll always take care of you, Vegeta. If you want love this way, I'll give it to you whenever you need it."

Swallowing the last mouthful of yogurt drenched fruit, Vegeta licked his lips as his friend placed the empty bowl on the coffee table. "I love when you take care of me...when you hold me n' kiss me."

Goku unconsciously licked his lips when looking at Vegeta, his protective nature running wild as those words flowed through his ears like music.

"Can we still be like this when my fever goes away?" Vegeta whispered.

The tall saiyan shifted the shorter one in his arms, gently laying Vegeta across his lap as he cradled the prince like a child. He brought up the hand that rested against Vegeta's hip to wipe some dried yogurt from the corner of Vegeta's mouth, something he missed.

"Do you want to?" He asked, getting a slight nod from his charge who seemed to be drifting off to sleep, or so it looked.

Nothing was said between them for several minutes with Goku thinking Vegeta had fallen back to sleep. Feeling alone at the moment, Goku could do nothing but sit there and let his mind once again wander away.

Thinking back to yesterday with Vegeta kissing him when he came near, Goku was both surprised and content with what happened between them. It was quick, but Goku cataloged it for his mind to go back to when he felt the urge to do more with his fellow saiyan other than just innocent kissing. Vegeta's lips were soft, his bottom lip slightly more plush than his top one. Remembering the kiss now, Goku noticed that Vegeta inhaled through his nose as he kissed him, and he could recall the slight tilt in Vegeta's way as if he wanted to deepen the kiss.  
His mind switched over to his one way kisses in the shower as he held Vegeta to him, how sweet the water tasted as Goku drank it off of the gorgeous skin belonging to his prince. He recalled the natural musk of the man tingling his senses as he buried his head into the side of Vegeta's neck, his mouth watering on its own accord while his eyes dropped tears of relief.

While remembering the strange and yet scary incident, Goku thought up all the things he wanted to say then as he cradled Vegeta now...all the things he wanted to tell him but was too frightened to speak up.

_You're here with me...I thought I lost you again, Vegeta. I thought you would drift away in my arms and I would be left with a shell of my prince...My prince. I never call you that..I never told you how much you mean to me..and maybe I didn't know either until you disappeared. I'm just as much of a fool as you tell me I am, and you were right the whole time. I didn't realize how much I cared..but I do now. You mean...everything to me..._

Goku's eyes teared up as he replayed what was in his thoughts...all that was left unspoken, all the things he should have said. Someday...Someday he will tell Vegeta.

He was brought out of his head when another wave of coughs struck the ill prince, forcing Vegeta to gag on the fluid in his throat. He coughed against Goku's chest, feeling the gentle man pat his back to help loosen up the mucus his body was trying to expel. Goku remained unbothered when spit up stained his shirt, simply wiping Vegeta's mouth with an understanding smile and bringing the cup of tea back for his friend to drink. The drugged saiyan finished the rest of the cool tea, resting back against the other's arms and concealing his face against a broad chest. Tender fingers caressed his hair, an arm holding him curled around his shoulder. Soft hands held him to the other saiyan as one did earlier...where whispered cries were heard and kisses showered his neck and face like rain.

"Again..." He whispered, eyes still closed as if he were asleep.

"Hm?" Goku hummed, thinking he didn't hear the other saiyan correctly.

"I...i-in the shower...when you held me. I want that again." Opening his eyes now, Vegeta looked up at Goku, his pupils like pin pricks from the high the pain patch was giving him.

Staring at the euphoric face of his prince, Goku questioned the ramifications of holding Vegeta as he did then. Observing the stitches he could see upon Vegeta's body, Goku was about to shoot down this request, feeling that any strenuous activity such as this would tear the covered wounds apart, retracting any progress they had made in healing. However, if cautious like he was previously, he would not find this to be an issue.

"We have to be mindful of your stitches." Goku said, his voice one of a whispered breath.

With a somewhat muddled mind, Vegeta understood, nodding, letting the young warrior make the first move.

Goku wordlessly shifted Vegeta so he sat straight in his lap, the prince assisting by spreading his knees against the plush couch cushions with careful movements. He allowed Goku to angle his own legs so they were open before sitting down on a comforting lap. Once replicating their positions from the shower and recapturing that feeling of warmth between them, they settled with Vegeta's arms slung over Goku's shoulders, Goku holding his waist along with his other hand supporting the back of his still damaged head.

"I need this..." Vegeta whispered, wanting that feeling of being treasured and safe in the arms of someone who could protect him. "Kaka-"

"Shhhh...I'll give you everything you need." Goku cooed, closing his eyes and kissing the area between Vegeta's shoulder and neck, retracing his steps.

He kissed gently, as soft as a butterfly with his lips barely touching the heated skin of his prince. Gradually, he started to press his lips against Vegeta's throat, hearing the other man softly let out a breath. Trailing up to the back of Vegeta's ear, he felt the prince shift slightly, a small thrust of hips meeting his own before legs spread even wider against the couch.  
As Goku stroked the back of Vegeta's head, his fingers threading through silky locks, he noticed Vegeta mimicking him, bringing his own lips to the third class warrior's neck, his lips as soft as falling rose petals. While they recreated this scene that started out frightening when it happened, Goku didn't have an inkling of that same feeling here with Vegeta in his arms. However, when tapping into Vegeta's emotions, Goku sensed his mood wavering with the fragments of fear. Goku rocked the both of them in a soft swaying motion, thinking Vegeta was reliving the terror that enveloped him when he could not breathe.

_~"Just hold me, please..." Was a frightened but whispered plea to his ear...~_

_The patch must be shifting his mood when remembering what happened yesterday,_ He thought, _I can sense how scared he must of been then..but there's an underlying sadness along with it..._

When this mix of emotions wouldn't die down, Goku decided to try and reassure that such a fright would never occur again.

"Don't be scared," He whispered, "It's all over now, okay?"

"N-No, 's not that." Vegeta told him, leaning back to look the other man in the face. "I just don't want it to end."

"Huh?" Goku cocked his head, his arms encircling Vegeta in his lap. "You don't want what to end, Geta?"

Vegeta lazily put his arms around Goku's neck, lacing his fingers together while he stared at Goku. "I know 'm high as a...Drogamin...righ' now...but I meeeeeaaan it. I wanna be like this forever, Kaka." His head nodded off a tad with his eyes rolling. Snapping back up, he continued, "I wanna be happy 'n loved."

Goku brought his hand up to caress Vegeta's face, his thumb brushing across a heated cheek. "Is that why you want to be held right now? You fear that this feeling of being loved will end?"

Hesitantly, Vegeta looked at him with drooping eyes and nodded.

"C'mere," Goku brought them back to how they were, Vegeta clutching Goku to him and Goku gently rocking him. "You'll always have this with me, Geta. This doesn't have to stop if you don't want it to."

Vegeta said nothing. Closing his eyes, he felt himself nodding off.

They stayed quiet as they held one another, Vegeta bowing his head into Goku's shoulder as the Fentanyl tired him out and Goku staring off at the wall, trying to control himself around the other man. All he wanted was to never stop touching him...kissing him.

They sat there and held each other for what felt like a long time, neither speaking and just basking in the moment of being in each other's arms. Small kisses and gentle touches were had, nothing but loving caresses mostly on Goku's part as Vegeta sat in his lap, the smaller of the two making little sounds of pleasure as loving hands pet and soothed him. Eventually, they shifted back to how they were with Vegeta laying in Goku's lap, his neck and head being supported by a strong arm while the other pet his hair, lovingly.

"You make me feel so good, Kaka." Vegeta told him, smiling as he leaned into the petting hand. "...'ve never been this happy before...loved."

Goku brought him closer, kissing Vegeta's forehead and noticing that his fever finally had been broken. "I want you to feel loved, Vegeta." He said, almost in a whisper.

The slight prince moved just then, tilting his head back more to meet Goku's soft lips with his own. The kiss was slow and gentle and sweet, the sweetness coming from Vegeta's mouth as Goku tasted the tang of fruit still lingering upon Vegeta's lips. He could feel Vegeta breathe out through his nose, a rattle in his chest vibrating from his sickness as he lightly suckled on Goku's lips. His hands moved with the touches of a feather, his right hand sliding to Vegeta's upper back while his left hand tilted just slightly to weave his fingers through his flame of hair.  
He felt Vegeta's arms move as well, gliding up his chest to lightly wrap themselves around his neck again, their owner placing his right hand back behind Goku's head, silently indicating that he wanted more. Goku did just that, opening up his mouth and gliding his tongue in to play with Vegeta's. He tried to suppress a moan that wanted to rise within his throat as the gentility of his prince's tongue dancing with his own made his heart feel like it was about to burst.

They shared a few more soft kisses until Vegeta's eyes drooped a little more, the patch not only making him feel warm and fuzzy, but tired as well. When he laid against Goku's chest, his muscles started to give, alerting his caretaker that it was time for Vegeta to go back to bed. Picking up the blanket they brought out to the living room, Goku headed back to the bedroom, laying the prince down in bed again. He saw Vegeta fight to stay awake and he smoothed his hand over the side of Vegeta's face, seemingly soothing him to sleep.

"Kaka?" Vegeta whispered.

"Yes, Vegeta?"

"I'm happy I'm feeling better." He said, gently smiling up at his rival who brushed his thumb across his cheek.

Goku gave him his own smile and tucked the small prince into the soft bed before kissing his forehead. "I'm glad you're feeling better, too."

With this, Vegeta closed his eyes and fell asleep with a smile on his face.

Staring at the now slumbering prince, Goku stroked his hand through Vegeta's hair, admiring how beautiful he looked when he was relaxed. This was great; it felt like they were living in a fairy tale where nothing was wrong and the world was magical. If only such were true.

Goku's smile faltered some when thinking about this, knowing there will be a day when the medicine will wear off and Vegeta would go back to being himself. Part of him dreaded that day, for he knew it was coming all too soon. Once the patch ran its course and Vegeta recovered, they would go back to their regular routine where Vegeta hated Goku and Goku would be left in the dust with his feelings for the prince.

Not wanting to think much about that, Goku shifted his thoughts to how great today was, how lovely it felt to care for Vegeta like this..to hold him and kiss him...how he wished this would last...

_This will all be over soon. I should enjoy this while it lasts...I just hope the days go by slowly._

With one last stroke of the prince's spikes, Goku left the room.


End file.
